


Deus Ex Machina

by LordChaldea



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game), Titanfall (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Lots of Original Characters - Freeform, No shipping at the moment, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:21:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23223187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordChaldea/pseuds/LordChaldea
Summary: Def: An unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation.Jason Oliver, Wayfarer of the Frontier Militia, never believed in the power of one, that one action could avert destiny. However as he finds himself displaced on a planet so similar but different, he finds that his actions will create many ripples in a world devoid of humanity.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 47





	1. [A]wakenings

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan-fiction ever so this may be the only chapter unless this gets really positive feedback or such. Please review cause I'm pretty sure this is decent at best.

**"Pilot Jason Oliver, are you awake?"**

The mechanical voice cut through Jason's thoughts as he was awoken from his deep sleep. It felt like he had hibernated through a winter cycle as his body refused to respond. Groaning he forced himself to unclasp the helmet that made his head weigh like a ton. Sliding up the visor he took in a very needed deep breath as he quickly surveyed the cockpit.

It appeared that only emergency power was on as the only source of light was the red backup lights. None of the controls seemed to light up and no visual data was being displayed from the Titan’s sensors “Mercury, what's your status?”

**"I am running on emergency power systems right now, Failure to activate primary power system remotely. Manual activation required"**

Biting back a curse he prepared myself to leave the cockpit. “Is it safe for me to leave the cockpit?” He questioned as he stretched out his limbs for preparation of some hard work.

**"Affirmative. There are no signs of activity outside my short-range sensors."**

“Good to know, now Mercury open up” There was a slight creaking noise before bursts of released air signaling the cockpit opening up. What greeted him from the outside was intense sunlight as he quickly covered my eyes from the searing rays. “Jesus Mercury you could’ve told me that it was going be this intense or I would’ve brought my shades” He joked to himself as he climbed his way out.

You see Jason was part of a special group in the Frontier Militia. A covert spec-ops group that were deployed first into planets before the main fighting force. Scout out the planet and report to HQ on what the planet held and how to plan assaults accordingly. They were known as the Wayfarers.

There’s a reason why the Wayfarers weren’t as well-known as the Marauder Corps or the 6-4. For one, secrecy was the whole reason they were founded. Rushing in guns blazing worked well in the beginning for the Frontier but then the IMC began to be actually strategic with their warfare and in turn they had to adapt in order to match them. The less that knew about this scouting corps the better.

Another reason why they were not well-known was the high mortality rate that this corps possessed that made potential recruits shy away from. Of course, there were no actual reports but everyone knew that signing up was the equivalent of signing your life away. You were essentially dropped off unto a planet with no one but yourself and your titan for months, maybe a year or two if you were really unlucky. Any move you made could spell out death and capture was the same thing as death. Why he had joined the corps? Well that’s another story for a different time.

Short story short, He'd waken up to a diverse set of planets. Some He'd land in a regular jungle, others in a desert. One really fun one was discovering they had awoken in the middle of the sea, now that was quite the mission. So waking up on top of a desert hill with his titan half buried under the sand wasn’t that alarming.

Seeing the ruins of a city on the horizons had the opposite effect.

“What circus did we happen to land on this time Mercury,” He murmured before he set his eyes on his buried titan. The good thing was that the main torso was above sand and relatively intact with some minor signs of damage. It didn’t look like any major parts were in dire need of repairs. He noticed a glaring problem on Mercury but wouldn’t know if it was a problem lest he got Mercury back on his feet, systems running.

Climbing on top of Mercury Jason dusted away the sand on top of the chassis till he found the switch he was looking for. Pulling it he stepped back to see some of Mercury's back panels switch around till they revealed an array of solar panels. You see the Wayfarer Corps needed a way to keep their Titans powered up for months without a resupply. This led to the Wayfarer Titan to being developed as the regular Vanguard Titans simply ate too much power due to all of its combat systems. This led to a less armored, more agile, and most importantly, a self-energy reliant Vanguard Class Titan, otherwise now known as the Wayfarer Titan(Yeah I know super original). The addition of solar panels, alongside other neat systems, led to a Titan able to run itself indefinitely.

“Mercury you good?” He questioned as the power lines that were connected to his chassis begun to glow, indicating that he was receiving power. Mercury wasn’t the actual designation he was given. It was like WF-393 or something like that but it was way too boring so he had changed it to something with a bit more class and what better than the Roman God of Travel.

**"Confirmed Pilot Oliver. Main Systems are being brought back online. ETA 10 minutes"**

“Good to know buddy, focus on bringing yourself back up and then will focus on where the hell we are.” The current surrounding pointed towards the fact that this planet looked like a regular planet that he would do recon on. Quickly checking on his data pad attached to his arm he quickly checked the atmosphere. After doing a quick scan of the surrounding area the data pad he was able to piece together a short but detailed report

“Huh the atmosphere is actually able to support me” The number one thing you did as a wayfarer was to check if the atmosphere didn’t downright kill you. The difference between needing a breathing mask or nothing at all could make or break the military force that was meant to follow you.

Removing his mask, Jason deeply took in a breath, enjoying the fresh air. The air seemed so similar to that of Earth’s it made his stomach flutter with butterflies, alongside opening a jar of bitter memories like that time....

**"Pilot Oliver All systems are 100% functional and operational. Awaiting further instructions"**

Silently thanking Mercury for coming in the nick of time he suppressed the bitter memories back to the darkest corners of his head, hopefully to never come up again. “Good to know Mercury, now pull yourself out would you pal”

 **"Before this frame undergoes this command, is Pilot Oliver alright? Your heartbeat soared in the last couple of seconds past the normal."** Mercury’s singular green eye looked at him in what he considered concern

“Nothing gets past you does it Mercury,” He gave a small smile towards his partner. Countless journeys with Mercury laid way to the development of a bond so sacred that only he and Mercury shared. Even though he was only a machine he felt that Mercury was a close friend that he could rely on in his darkest times. Mercury was able to pick up the little times he had let his troubles get past his cracks and be able to pull him back from the brink. He chuckled at his relationship with Mercury before giving him a thumbs up to get up

Standing back he watched Mercury’s black frame part away the sand that was covering him. It wasn’t mandatory to make your Titan color scheme black but when your behind enemy lines and need to get by undetected, Black was the color scheme to go with.

Seeing his Titan gloriously standing before his eyes never got old for Jason. Sometimes he still thought that this was all some dream that he had yet to wake up from but this brief nostalgia laid way to a more pressing problem. 

**"It appears that I am no longer equipped with the PR-01 Plasma Railgun. However, I am still in possession of the Arc Broadsword in my arsenal."** To emphasize the point Mercury reached into the sand and pulled out a massive blade that was almost half his size. The arc energy could be faintly seen singing across the blade’s edge. It could’ve been worse honestly, having no weapons would’ve been the worst case scenario. The loss of their railgun sniper did however strip them of any hopes of long range engagements with potential hostiles. “And since we’re out in the open desert...” Letting the reality set in that they were completely screwed if they did get in a conflict meant only one thing. “Alright Mercury we’re moving now”

**"Affirmative Pilot Oliver, what is our destination?"**

“Good question,” Taking a quick 360 there was only 3 choices that they could take. Walk towards the city ruins, which was probably filled with hostiles if experience taught him anything, walk towards what was perceived to be a mountain range in the very, very far distance, or just aimlessly walk towards the unknown and pray to God that we hit something. “Well when in doubt pick the most familiar scenario,” Muttering his favorite mantra as a Wayfarer he turned towards Mercury with a smile.

“Looks like we’ll be going climbing Mercury,” He gave Mercury a thumbs up which he proceeded to return before picking him up and putting him back inside the cockpit. Slinging the arc blade across his shoulder they began their track towards the mountain range. Stuck on an unknown planet with his titan and possibly no assured chance of survival, Jason couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at the usual routine of a Wayfarer. I mean what could possibly go wrong

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This is Operator 51O reporting in, 10S and 5B have arrived at the designated location Commander” Somewhere above the atmosphere floated the Bunker. A state-of-the-art space station where YoRHa conducted one of its many plans of war against the alien machines that plagued Earth.

In the command room sat Commander White. Designed to bring victory for humanity no matter the cost Commander White was a special type of android. Designed to be an efficient leader, she was responsible for the main offensive and she took no expenses in dealing with any threat. Even if they seemed harmless.

“What do they have to report Operator?” A few hours ago, a massive power surge had gone on in the middle of the deserts where machine concentration was very high. The panic that had ensued from the possibility of a new machine army being mass produced was quickly dealt with. While she was what the operators considered to be a goddess, even if she cared not for her appearances, she was to be a voice of reason in the storm. After calming down her forces, she quickly sent her best infiltration group to go and investigate. Normally she would send in 2B and 9S to investigate but she knew 2B was going to busy fulfilling her “directive” right about now. No need to burden one of her elites with too much now. Besides she was only looking for a single investigation, not an invasion of machine-controlled territory

The veiled face of Operator 51O was not so different from her fellow operators. A emotionless face that had half of her face covered by a veil with hair that reached past her shoulders; the only difference was that the flower she had attached to her hair. She had received an old-world article from 10S about how humans passed the time and a paper flower caught her attention. After many failed attempts she finally created one and spared no effort in showing it off.

Quickly nodding Operator 51O gave her report. “After arriving at the designated location Scanner 10S has indeed confirmed that it was the location for the power surge. There were high levels of energy around the area and signs of burnt metal scattered across the field. His pod analyzed that it could’ve been from a singular machine.” A singular machine capable of creating that high of an energy burst. Now that was concerning, if a machine of that caliber was to get near one of their facilities let alone the Bunker that would spell disaster out for YoRHa. Biting her lip slightly Commander White gestured for the Operator to continue who nodded once more before continuing. “10S was able to identify that this is entirely a new machine and judging by the footprints found on site he can confirm that its around the size of a Goliath Biped class machine, Additionally 5B has found additionally footprints that concludes it to be heading towards the vast mountain ranges that leads on into our controlled territory”

Now it was moving towards their side of the planet? “Can 10S and 5B follow the machine?” She hoped to at least gleam if this machine was hostile enough to be eradicated or left alone to its own whims. Machines were growing passive as of last as they seemingly disconnected from the network and she’d rather not waste the resources to put down one machine. “Yes she ca...Never mind patching 5B in Commander”. A slight static noise was heard before 5B was patched into the call. If there was one similarity that Operator 51O shared with her combat unit was the long hair. 5B had her hair braided into a ponytail that reached up to her shoulders. “That's a negative Commander, on our way here it looked like the machines got riled up by the energy surge. They're being more aggressive than usual and I’d rather not risk being stranded out here."

“Just my luck,” Commander White thought briefly before she addressed them again. “Very well 5B pull out with 10S and rendezvous with the Resistance in that area. With luck we’ll be able to hear more reports from their scouts. 51O alert all local flight unit patrols in that region of this mysterious machine, until the order is given this machine is to observed only from afar, no actions will be taken against it until we know more about it,” Taking a pause Commander White placed her hand across her chest

“Glory to Mankind!”

_**It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the**_ **_world_ **

**_-Chaos Theory_ **


	2. [B]itter Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like this story is being received kinda well so I'll continue with this story.

_“This is Squad 4 and I need backup now!!” On the rocky plains of Typhoon a massive battle was occurring between the IMC and the Frontier Militia. On one side laid a division of the Marauder Corps and a battalion of Milita rifleman trying to break through an IMC stronghold. What laid in the stronghold was a vast number of Frontier Prisoners that had been taken from the first disastrous assault on the planet._

_Currently the main assault force was focusing on the assault of the IMC’s superweapon, the Fold Weapon. It was weapon that manipulated time-displacement as a way to destroy planets. It was supposed to be a well-kept IMC secret but from the first assault Rifleman Jack Cooper, now known as Pilot Cooper, was able to survive the assault, traverse the IMC controlled planet with his Titan, taking out the elite mercenary group, The Apex Predators, one by one, and was able to transmit the Fold Weapons main weakness, which was known as the Ark to the Militia Fleet. After sending the Ark’s unique electronic signature, the Militia had sent any available forces that they had into the assault of Typhoon_

_Taking advantage of the chaos, a planned assault was devised to take control of the prison and release all of their soldiers before the destruction of the Fold Weapon. However, they made a huge mistake in underestimating the forces that were currently defending the prison._

_“I’m sorry Captain Nora but that’s a no-go, Commander Briggs wants all available air units to attack the Fold Weapon. There are no units that we are.......” An explosion rocked the Nora’s titan back. Quickly the Nora’s titan dove behind a rock where a Northstar Titan and some Rifleman were taking cover behind and firing at the enemy forces positioned above the wall. Making sure that the call was still going the Captain quickly shouted into the call._

_“IF I DON’T GET ANY BACKUP THERE WON’T BE ANYONE LEFT FOR HELP!” Shutting off the call the Nora readdressed her forces. “What’s the situation over here!" Looking over the destruction she could tell that they were getting ripped into. Apparently the intel that they had received apparently forgot to mention that they were In possession of a Ripper Chain Gun. It was basically a giant Anti-Titan Chain Gun that was able to shred even the most fortified of titans and the fact that they had no idea about this led to a very poor beginning to their assault. “We’ve lost at least half of our Marauders and that Ripper has us pinned,” The Northstar Pilot responded before sniping down an IMC Titan off the walls. This was getting out of hand._

_Before the Captain could dish out orders a loud mechanical noise cancelled out any of the loud sounds of gunfire and made everyone look at the cause. Taking a look she noticed that the Fold Weapon was beginning to activate. The rings that made up the weapon lit up and began to move ever so slowly but gaining speed with ever second. “Dammit its begun,” The captain murmured to herself before looking over at the remnants of her forces. “Charge the prison! We can outnumber the forces inside just get over the wall. If that Fold Weapon fires it would’ve been all for nothing!” She could see the hesitation flicker across her soldiers’ faces but she needed to attack before that Fold Weapon fired. Now if only she could take care of that Ripper then..._

_While in thought a sharp noise was heard before a loud plasma bullet hit the Ripper’s Power source. A glaring weak source of the Ripper was that it needed a large enough power source and it was usually hard to hit the small connection between the power source and the actual gun itself. It seemed that the sniper had taken advantage of the fact that everyone was distracted by the Fold Weapon’s activation. The chain gun started beeping rather loudly before exploding in a giant inferno_

_“Your backup has arrived!” Looking behind her on the mountain range a Black Wayfarer class Titan uncloaked, its plasma rail gun still smoking. “This is Pilot Oliver, don’t worry captain I’ll cover your approach,” The black Titan did a quick salute before firing another shot, taking out another IMC Titan._

_Taking hold of this new opportunity the captain turned back to her forces. “Well are you waiting for an invitation! Show these IMC scum what the Militia is capable of” With their hope renewed the remainder of the attack force charged at the stronghold with the IMC trying, but failing to repel the newly invigorated Militia._

_\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_The moment that the Militia was able to get up-close and personal with the IMC, victory was practically assured. The defending force had folded under the sheer number of the Militia and before long the prison was under Militia control. Former Militia prisoners were freed as they celebrated their new found freedom with each other and their rescuers. As her forces enjoyed this victory the captain addressed to the one responsible for this victory._

_“Never seen a finer shot in my life, you sure you’re not part of the Orion Sharpshooters Corps?” Currently they were standing near the destroyed Ripper Chain Gun. Pilot Oliver had his mask off as he let the wind blow his short messy black hair as his dark green eyes twinkled in amusement. “Me with those stuck-ups, hahhaha!” Oliver took his time laughing before continuing. “I’d rather live dangerously then be cooped up with a regular battalion, you know lone wolf status”. Smirking at his nonchalant nature Captain Nora couldn’t help but find the name Jason Oliver familiar, Before she could ask her question a loud force started to shake the ground. Stumbling around before grabbing unto a railing Nora quickly looked at the fully activated Fold Weapon. It looked like the assault on the Fold Weapon had failed._

_“Everyone get back to the transports, WE ARE LEAVING!” Quickly jumping off the railing Nora’s Titan quickly caught her before they were linked up with each other. Calling in the transports she opened up the prison’s main gates before ordering her soldiers and escapees. “GO! GO! GO!”_

_A flood of soldiers and titans flooded out of the prison to the awaiting transports. The air was discharged with energy as the fold weapon began its firing sequence. It was complete disorder as they tried to run back to the transports. Before Nora was able to issue more orders, another loud boom filled the air. This one was far louder and this time knocked everyone to the ground._

_Forcing her titan to look up Nora prayed that the fold weapon had not fired yet. It looked like her prayers were answered as the rings of the Fold weapon begun to collapse within each other as the Ark begun to reach critical levels, destroying itself from the inside out. “HELL YEAH!” She cheered till she noticed the surrounding ground as it begun to collapse into each other and hot magma quickly begun to spill forth. “OH CRAP! EVERYONE DOUBLE TIME!” Noticing that the planet was about blow up the escape effort doubled very fast._

_As the transports were being boarded Nora was trying her best that everyone was able to escape. Still on the ground level she was trying to guide everyone to any available ships that had room. “Captain that’s everyone accounted for, now you should get on a transport!” The pilot roared back as the planet around them was further dissolving into a chaos. Before she could respond the ground gave way and suddenly Nora found herself free falling into the hot magma._

_About to resign herself to a fiery death she was about to say her prayers before she felt a pull on her titan. Looking up she saw that Pilot Oliver’s Titan had grabbed onto her and was the only thing between her before and her fiery fate. “Pilot get Captain Nora on your ship NOW!” The fore mentioned pilot quickly positioned themselves underneath the captain while trying to avoid getting swallowed by the hot magma._

_Landing on the ship Nora quickly turned around to assist Oliver until the planet began to rumble again. “Dammit Captain! I’m pulling out, I can’t risk it!" Nora could only look in horror as Pilot Oliver became smaller and smaller as the ship pulled away from the dying planet. She couldn't say a word as a bright flash engulfed the planet until nothing of it remained._

_This was the last time anyone saw Pilot Oliver in action._

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Say Mercury,” Jason asked as they were walking over a mountain in the dead of night. It had been a couple of days since they had arrived on this mysterious planet and they were just trying to reconnect with the Militia Fleet. They had to try to utilize Mercury's built in transmitter to try and contact them but they simply couldn’t reach them. The next step was to try and commander a satellite dish powerful enough to propel a signal across the cosmos. Mercury currently had his instruments searching as far as they could for a satellite dish but we’ve had no luck as of yet.

**“Yes, Pilot Oliver?”**

“You think if we hadn’t ignored the order to not provide back-up for Squad 4, we would still be with the fleet?”

**“Permission to speak freely?”**

This was odd, Mercury asking for permission to speak. Usually he spoke his mind without hesitation. “Uh sure go ahead”

**“Would Pilot Oliver ever live with the fact of abandoning that squad when they were in need of help”**

Could he? Could he live with the fact that someone had died if he had the ability to stop it from happening?

His mind fizzes a bit as he's taken a bit to a haunting memory that he had thought that he’d banished to the dark corners of his mind.

There on a blood-soaked battlefield, littered with the corpses of ally and enemy alike. He sat there clutching a body as he cries out into the darkness. The corpse still smiling as his tears drop onto her face as he make his anguish known to all that can hear, which is no one.

A bittersweet smile worms its way onto his face as he looked toward the night sky. Its filled with beautiful, luminous stars and what looks to be like shooting stars streaking across the night.

Another memory worms its way into his head as he finds himself in a balcony, overlooking a city. He turned to his right and sees a woman standing beside him. Her face is blurred out but her smile is as beautiful as ever as he joins her infectious mood. The fireworks that erupt in the background makes the moment all the more beautiful.

“No Mercury, I don’t think I could live with myself if I did do that.... Thanks I needed that”

**“Not a problem Pilot Oliver, it’s what partners do correct?”**

Chuckling at his attempt to cheer him on the pair continued toward the unknown, after all.

What else could they do but move forward?

**“Sometimes the strongest among us are the ones who smile through silent pain, cry behind closed doors and fight battles nobody knows about.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review so I can improve upon my writing


	3. [C]ontact

“For so-called “scouts” you have absolutely nothing relevant for us!” Loud crashing could be heard in the Resistance Outpost. The outpost was nestled in the mountains, surrounded by a lush and dense forest that buried the base in greenery, making the it hard for enemy scanners to detect them. It was an ideal spot for android planned assaults in the heavily controlled machine territory. 

5B and 10S had received orders from Command to meet-up with the Resistance Outpost to find more intel on their ‘mystery’ machine. 10S really wanted to track down the machine and it wasn’t like this was his first dangerous expedition in machine-controlled territory. There was a reason why he was the Commander’s 2nd pick over 9S. The problem with tracking the machine was his partner, 5B, who was well, very volatile. If he was the needle then 5B was a sledgehammer. He had his own hunches on what made 5B so volatile, he believed it to be a mixture of being a Battler Unit and having her Black Box filled with so many combat chips, but any reconnaissance mission with her would lead to a messy conflict. It was strange that if she was addressing any of the higher-ups like the Commander, himself, or Operator 51O she would be as polite as an Operator Unit, but the moment the call ended she had tried to pick a fight with the nearest machine. He had lost count of how many times he had to reign her in when she found a sizable group of machines bunched up together on their trip ripe for a massacre, her words not his. His luck had to end somewhere and at least it was somewhere where she couldn’t damage too much. 

Interrupting his inner thoughts 10S quickly ducked below a thrown terminal that was flung out of the window and exploded into pieces as it hit the ground. 

“Okay maybe not so safe after all,” He muttered as he watched his partner from the sidelines as she ripped into the Resistance captain. “You’re such a useless piece of scrap! You can’t even provide me this thing’s color of all things! Do you want me to bash your core till it’s the size of a data chip!?” Showing off her clenched fist in an attempt to look superior was met by the unimpressed stare of the captain. It was sad that this sort of altercation between YoRHa and the Resistance were actually pretty common. 

While some YoRHa androids were able to get well with the Resistance, it seemed that the majority couldn’t just come to a compromise with each other. 10S suspected it was how the mindsets that were fostered in each group that clashed when it came to blows. YoRHa prided themselves as the elite androids, the “humanity’s chosen” and that haughty arrogance leaked out when it came to addressing other non-YoRHa androids. The Resistance accepted any kind of androids, not matter how old they were, as long as they were willing to fight. This kind of motto stuck as the Resistance viewed themselves as a “family”, a term Humans used to describe what was to a close-bonded group. 

The Resistance was much more open about their emotions than that of YoRHa and as such led to clashes over it. A common beginning to a conflict would be a Resistance member trying to invite a YoRHa member to a recreational activity, trying to get in good graces with them. The YoRHa member would shoot it down, saying it would be a waste of time. The Resistance android would then make some remark about YoRHa being mindless drones and in turn the YoRHa android responded with a snide remark about being ineffficient scraps of metal. It was a miracle that no androids had been reported with fatal injuries after these bouts. 

“Really and now I thought you YoRHa were meant to be the “elites” because unlike you guys my scouts gather info on actual threats to humanity, not made-up rumors,” The Captain didn’t think of himself as a petty android. He valued his comrades and in turn liked to trust in the good of androids, but seeing how this YoRHa piece of scrap so blatantly came in and tried to take command really riled him up. It was slightly amusing, oh who was he kidding it was very amusing, to see the Battler Unit begin to anger up. He wondered if that was actual steam coming off of her or just some faulty logic circuit that burned up. 

“Why YOU!” 5B’s patience had already ran out and was about to slug this disrespectful piece of garbage in the face if it wasn’t for 10S stepping in and stopping her hand. “That’s enough 5B, what would Command think about this, damaging relations with the Resistance?” Without a reasonable excuse for 10S, 5B jerked her hand away with a huff. “Fine! But I’m going to get some fresh air”. With that she left the command room. “Please don’t break anything else as well please,” 10S called out and all he got was an obscene finger gesture from her. Dammit she was going to break something again. 

Addressing the captain 10S bowed in apology for his partner’s rash behavior. “I’m so sorry about 5B, she’s usually not this,” 10S fumbled trying to find the right word “irrational”. He finished. The captain could only sigh as well before responding. “No, it’s my fault that I purposely tried to rile her up, I....” Trying to find the right words he could only sigh in defeat once more at his failed attempt to apologize “Look can we just forgot about these and move on to the business you came down for,” Seeing 10S nod, eager to forgot about the fight, Ross motioned for him to join him at the command table. 

“Truth be told we haven’t seen this mystery machine you told us at all, that energy surge earlier knocked out all of our systems here and since everything here is pretty old we had to make a bunch of supply runs to refit the base.” Showcasing the room, it was obvious that it was really old technology with all the dust and rust that they had on them. If 10S had to label an era he would say they were from the beginnings of the Machine War. “I haven’t deployed any scouts as they are all placed on guard duty, ready to warn us if any threat comes our way” With all of their technology having to be replaced, so too did their long range radar have to be exchanged for the good ole fashioned android perimeter. “It may take some time but the moment everything’s back I’ll send out my scouts out to...” Whatever he was about to say was interrupted as 5B stormed back in, sword in hand. 

“Woah 5B calm down there, everything here is goo..MPHH!,” 5B placed her hand over 10S’s mouth as she addressed the Captain. “We’ve got enemies closing in 25 Kilometers out, North side,” Her fiery bravado replaced by her composed soldier mode made 10S realize that she was actually being serious and stopped struggling from her hold. The Captain was inclined to disagree with her judgement. “What the hell are you talking about!? There’s no machi...,” Suddenly his radio blared out a distress call. “Captain! This is perimeter control at the north side! We’ve been ambushed by machi....AAAAA!” The loud scream was ended by a loud explosion, ending the call and filling the room with static. The Captain’s face was frozen as he looked on in horror at his radio. Taking a moment to compose himself, he brought up his radio to address his troops. 

“All personnel, this is your Captain speaking,” 

“We are under siege, I repeat, the machines have found us. everyone to your battle stations now!” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You know Mercury this isn't so bad of a scenario change,” Jason said as he and Mercury were walking side by side through a lush dense forest. Walking through the mountains for a week wasn’t so bad but navigating the confusing labyrinth of mountains was really tiresome, even if the dangerous cliffs made it virtually impossible for any potential hostiles to hide in. When they first laid eyes on the vast green sea of trees, they immediately changed their travel path. Giant green trees sprawling from the ground, making them seem like ants, and the leaves allowing rays of sunshine to spill in made his mood improve drastically. He had spent his early years living in a forest and ever since he had developed a deep love for the quiet forests. No matter if they’d be filled with carnivorous plants or strange freakish animals that made him question what was the normal, he’d still choose the forest over the city. 

Taking in another deep breath of satisfaction as they continued their trek in the forest Jason couldn’t help but close his eyes and rest his arms behind his head. This was the life and it seemed like nothing could go wro.... **“Unknown life-form detected,** ” Mercury warned out. 

Cursing how he had basically jinxed himself He opened an eyelid to look at what Mercury was looking at. “What the hell is that thing?” In front of him was a small stubby bipedal machine, waving around what he perceived to be a small stubby sword while walking in a circle. The machine looked so innocent that he almost ignored the red splotches that were decorating its body, almost. Looking back at Mercury for an answer, all he got back was the shake of his singular eye. Before talking the sounds of walking had stopped as they looked back to see the machine having now stopped its circling and staring at its new interest with red violent eyes, and it happened to be staring right at them. 

The machine gazed at the newcomers. Why hadn’t the large bipedal machine crush the android already? Had it lost its directive or maybe it had been hacked to be a loyal servant to the enemy android. Whatever the reasoning was the programming in its body screamed at it to fulfill its directive. 

Kill the Android. 

Raising its crude sword, the machine screeched, **“KILL THE ANDROIDS!”** , before it rushed towards the android as fast as its stubby legs could carry it. It could imagine the blood spilling forth from the android as its sword slashed their body into pieces, yes it would be a glorious... 

Not even making it halfway the machine’s internal thoughts were halted as it looked upward as a foot came crashing down onto it in its final moments, crushing it it. 

**“Protocol 3, Protect the Pilot,”** Mercury intoned before looking back at Jason and giving a thumbs up **“Threat Neutralized Pilot”.** Jason couldn’t help but sigh seeing his titan go a bit overboard in the dispatching of the threat. “A bit too much their buddy but well done regardless,” He called out before joining the lumbering titan. Kneeling next to the remains of the enemy he couldn’t help but be curious at what just happened. That machine seemed a little too bit sentient to be passed off as a simple drone but also at what it had called him by “An android?” He questioned before looking back at Mercury, who was currently scanning the wreckage. “Anything yet?” 

**“Negative Pilot Oliver it seems that the machine held no relevant information for us, it seemed to be going out of control before we found it”** Mercury pulled out what he presumed to be a still functioning red optic, blinking red rapidly before shutting down. **“Analysis shows that it was once connected to a massive network where similar machines seemed to be also connected and controlled”**. A giant network that held more murderous robots like this? What was this, the freaking Terminator? 

“Anything els....” A large explosion sounded off in the distance as they looked up to see a massive smoke cloud billowing in the distance. Without having to say a word Mercury picked up Jason into his cockpit as the pair rushed off towards the increasing explosions in the distance. 

If they had noticed they would’ve noticed that the crushed machine was able to send out one more signal into the Network before offlining permanently. In the message was a picture of the both of them and was received by a particular high-ranking machine with a fondness toward humans. 

_> >>Hmm now what do we have here, Eve it looks like we got a new playmate to enjoy some time __with. <_ _< <_

_> >> Oh, what fun they look to be Brother, let's see their worth shall we? <<<_

_> >> Agreed Eve, Ko-_ _jiro_ _I have a new mission for you. I want to see what this anomaly is capable of. <<< _

_> > Yes, your majesties, your will be done. Ko-jiro the Peerless Blade shall not fail you. <<_

**“A wise king never seeks out war, but must always be ready for it”**

**-Thor** **Ragnarok**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment anything that you think I could improve upon in my writing.


	4. [D]eviation

“Now this is more like it!” 5B said in glee as she ripped out her blade from her latest machine victim. She and 10S were currently assisting in the defense of a critical Resistance Outpost. She was honestly getting a bit cranky from all the sitting around and not doing anything “fun”. Her definition of fun may have differed from her sister Battler Units but that’s what made her recognized by the Commander herself. Sighing softly before dodging out of a clumsy strike from a machine she couldn’t help but wonder what the commander thought of her. I mean she tried to get noticed by her but all she got at best was a nod in her direction. Maybe she should have taken up 51O’s advice and talked it out with her. "I mean am I doing something wrong,” She calmly muttered to herself as she brought out her greatsword and cleaved another machine in half, then kicked the remains into a group of incoming machines before it blew up. 

_“This is Pod 902 to 5B, priority message from Unit 10S,”_ Her pod told her as it sprayed down machines from above with its machine gun. She had rushed right into the heart of the battle without warning but she was pretty sure that 10S had assisted in the coordination of troops back at the command base. She wished that 10S was more of an offensive unit than one for strategies but she supposed that not everyone was built for the battlefield. Oh well more for her to enjoy. “Patch him through Pod,” She answered as a hologram message appeared on her right which displayed her partner’s face within the command building _. “5B it looks like another big wave is coming right at you, everyone is currently fighting off their own squads of machines so you’ll be without backup for a while. I would join you but my Pod is currently the only unit with a long enough radar to detect the incoming machines so I’m providing intel”_

“Don’t worry 10S I’ll leave plenty of machines for you when you come by,” 5B promised as she finished with the remaining machines in the area, their smoldering remains decorating the battlefield. However, her brief period of peace was interrupted as the 2nd wave of machines came running in, with more in their midst than the 1st wave. Readying herself to once more join the fray 5B could only voice her confusion as the seemingly more dangerous group had stopped their charge and were currently staring her down. She wished she could credit herself for striking fear into the hearts of the machines but she knew better than a machine to gain emotions. So, them stopping meant that they were waiting for...! She felt her body be forcibly taken over by her battle programming as she backflipped out of the way of a mortar round destroying the plot of land that she had been standing on. 

Landing some feet away from the new crater she called out to her pod to analyze the warhead. _“Analysis: there seems to be a siege unit positioned behind the enemy lines,”_ Her pod responded right before seeing another warhead racing across the sky. Preparing to dodge the incoming warhead 5B could only be in a bewildered state as the warhead had missed her entirely and ignited a part of the forest ablaze that was ways off. “Pod did it just miss me?” 5B knew what their Siege Units were capable of but them missing was rare. Her pod glided down to join her as it voiced its readings. _“Proposal Siege cannon is not aiming for you,”_ 5B could only look at her pod in confusion as another warhead sailed past her head and into the distant greenery. Looking back at the group of machines and back at the crater the warhead had made 5B’s mind was analyzing why the tactic had seemed so familiar. Realization creeped onto her face as her pod had come to the same conclusion. 

_“It is trying to locate the outpost.”_

Terror had 5B in its grasp as the memories she thought she had wiped away came rushing back to her. For a moment she was taken back to a war-torn city where she lost everything. “P-pod c-c-contact 10S immediately!” She stuttered out as she tried to contain the feelings of horror wracking her frame. Before the pod could send the signal, the waiting machine group had noticed their plan had been revealed and rushed the unsuspecting YoRHa unit before she could transmit their plans to her forces. 

Reigning in her terror 5B stood solemnly amidst the chaos. Her pod was trying its best to getting a response while keeping the machines away from her but was ignored as she focused on one thing. The realization that **IT** would be here if this particular strategy was being used. “I swear that I’ll avenge you guys, That’s the least I can do”. Her body tensed before flaring up with energy as she activated every combat chip that filled her Black Box, alongside the hidden Berserk mode that her predecessors, The Attacker Units, were known for. She knew it was banned from installment but she was able to find a Scanner gullible enough to install it into her programming. Even as she felt her rationale being exchanged for power, she still kept the memory of her fallen burning within her. 

**_“I-it’s n-n-_ ** **_ot_ ** **_y---o—ur f—au---_ ** **_lt_ ** **_5B”_ **

Behind her blindfold, her mind was laced with hatred as she looked toward the approaching machines. She would murder these **insects** before carving a path towards **IT** , the one responsible for her loss. Tensing her body, she launched from her position, yelling a war cry. The first 2 machines stood no chance as she appeared in an instant before them. The first machine couldn’t react fast enough as a sword plunged itself into its body before it was shredded horizontally, rending the machine in half. Using the momentum of her blade 5B spun around quickly to address the other machine that had tried to take advantage of its comrade’s fate, by chopping off its head cleanly from its body. Catching the head with her free hand she turned towards the rest of the machine group, who was beginning to back away slightly from this demoness of the battlefield. 

Her blindfold had been lost from her initial launch so she had no cover to shield her glare at the enemy. Her once calm blue eyes had been tinged by a slight red glow, filled with the promise of carnage to those in front of her. Looking from the decapitated head back to the feeble group of machines, 5B felt that she beginning to lose herself to the battle lust. It was beginning to get harder to keep herself reigned in but she just needed just a few more steps to finish her goal. Crushing the head in her hand, she maneuvered her now free hand to grasp the great sword strapped to her back, dual wielding her weapons. 

“ **A** **L** i **T** t **l** E m **O** r **E** ,” She reminded herself before jumping right back into the chaos 

Just a little more. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason whistled at the ensuing carnage that 5B was causing from his vantage point in the trees. Seeing her cut through the machines like butter made him remember that if ever met her formally he would not get on her bad side. Tearing his eyes away from the angel of death he focused on the burning forest where signs of fighting were evident in it. The forest was ablaze as he could see the faint outlines of both humans and machines clashing within in the smog. All the while the siege was continuing to burn down the forestry. The raging angel was quite a way off from the siege unit’s location but at the speed she was going at she would arrive there in no time at... **“That unit will not be able to arrive at the siege unit without serious injuries,”** Mercury called out from his helmet. He did not think the tree to be able to support both him and his titan so he made him wait at the bottom of the tree to be on the lookout for any hostiles while he spied out the battle. 

**“While she is tearing through the enemy forces, her energy level is suffering dramatically as a result. Calculating the energy that she is using and the number of enemies coming right at her will result in her death by the time she is halfway to the siege unit.”** Mercury explained as he showed all the calculations inside Jason’s helmet. Looking back at the battlefield he knew that if that siege unit was allowed to exist uncontested then the machines’ victory was practically assured. “Maybe if we can sneak up and take out the siege unit by surprise and get....,” He offered only for it to be shot down. **“Negative the smoke would interfere with the cloaking device and I will lose all of my energy trying to keep it up, leaving me defenseless at the siege unit,”** He warned to his pilot. 

Biting back a curse Jason tried his best to think of a solution that didn’t involve a risky plan. Lucky for him it seemed Mercury had a plan. **“Pilot Oliver I have a proposal.”**

“Well I’m open to ideas buddy, hit me” 

**“What if Pilot Oliver was to provide support for the soldier and the two of you coordinate an assault on the siege weapon?”**

Yeah that would work. He’d provide cover fire with his sniper rifle and take out any of the.... Mid thought Jason realized two things. That one he didn’t have his trademark sniper rifle, only a RE-45 pistol that had arc rounds in it alongside a data knife and a katana, and two what Mercury had planned by “assisting”. Popping his head out of the leaves he had covered himself him in, he opened up his helmet to give his partner a deadpanned stare. “I am not doing that.” 

At that Mercury could only tilt his eye in confusion at his partner’s hesitation. **“I am unable to move fast enough to assist the soldier but if I were to throw you at a reasonable velocity then you would be able to destroy the siege unit without casualties. It is the best plan we have,”** He finished as he gave Jason an ultimatum. 

Seeing that there was virtually no better option at the table, Jason begrudgingly agreed to his partner’s plan. “Fine we’ll do it your way,” He muttered before falling off the branch to be used in a fastball. Mercury caught his fall before assuming a pitcher’s stance. Readying his pilot on his back hand while using his other arm to aim the throw, Mercury began to crunch the calculations required for the throw. 

**“Wind: 3 knots, heading 300, Range: 200 meters, Projectile Mass:89 kilograms,”** The aiming arm suddenly scrunched to a strong 90-degree angle. Looking back at his pilot in his arm Mercury confirmed the throw. **"Trust** **me”**

And proceeded to throw him through the sky, into the blazing forest, back into the battlefield they called home. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“ **D** A **MM MAC** HIN **E** S!” 5B yelled as she viciously murdered what felt like her 35th machine. Looking up from her most recent kill’s corpse to see what felt like the never-ending horde of machines rushing her once more. **“FINE! I HAVE ENOUGH DEATH FOR ALL OF YOU!”** She yelled out before she felt something grab her leg, making her trip to the floor. Looking back, she saw that the machine she had just previously killed was actually still functioning. The machine only had its upper torso with one arm but it was all that it needed to able to function for one more time before offlining permanently. Cursing to herself, she was able to wrench her leg free but at the cost of losing awareness of her surroundings. _“Warning enemy unit dangerously close to Unit 5B,”_ Her pod called out trying to provide covering fire for its downed partner but one was able to get past its defensive fire. Able to pierce through her battle lust, shock weaved its way onto her face as the lone machine was posed to cleave her in two with its sword. “I'm so sorry guys, I couldn’t avenge you,” She lamented as she resigned herself to her fate. It would take a miracle for her to be saved. 

Lucky for her, a miracle did come 

In the form of an android landing on top of the machine. 

5B was unable to voice her shock as the unknown android began to rodeo the now panicking machine. Capitalizing on the confusion the unknown android whipped out a knife and proceeded to stab into the machine over and over again. If she wasn’t currently in battle mode, she would’ve laughed at how comedic the scene looked. The machine resembled a poor sponge with all the knife holes it had. After it received what felt like its 100th stab the machine fell over, deactivated from the abuse. Without skipping a beat, the unknown android attached an explosive device to the chest of the deceased machine. Quickly tying a grappling line from his gauntlet, he began to drag the corpse around in a quick circle, which now was a machine-turned bomb, before launching it back to the enemy front line. One machine was idiotic enough to catch their deactivated brother and could only look in confusion at the red-blinking light originating from its chest. 

“Gotcha,” He muttered before triggering the explosion. A loud bang filled the area as a bright inferno consumed the enemy machines, leaving only their ashes as their remains. 5B could only look in shock at the android that was able to stop the incoming machines without hesitation. 

Suddenly the unknown android turned back to her and then started to approach her. After coming into close contact, he apparently noticed her wariness about him and in a sign of good faith, offered his hand to help her up. Without even thinking 5B accepted the hand and felt a new emotion flow through her at first contact. It was like a fire had been lit inside of her and she couldn’t stop this wondrous feeling from spreading through her. Without hesitation she allowed herself to be pulled up by this stranger. “Looks like you needed some help there,” He spoke to her and she couldn’t help but wonder who this android was, who was he that made her experience such strange but delightful emotions. 

“Name’s Jason Oliver, I’m here to help you with that siege unit. Hope we work well together.” 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_“Commander there seems to be a complication with the main attack force,”_ In a clearing away from the pilot and android was the siege unit. It used to be a Goliath Tank but it had been retrofitted to instead wield a massive siege cannon. However, this addition of firepower had significantly weakened the machine’s mobility and defensive capabilities, so it needed to be defended heavily by additional forces. The enemy attack force had set their base around the siege cannon, making the area heavily defended. Scores of machines were being directed to their respective locations their respective commanding units, who followed the orders of the main commander. The elite guard of the commander served as the captains to help coordinate the assaults of the different squads. They were more armed, armored, and possessed a higher intelligence then the grunt machines but one thing made them stand out from them. 

The symbol of a rising phoenix painted onto their chest piece. 

The main commander was much more noticeable then its captains. Its armor was much more complicated than the others, heavily inspired by the world’s past warriors that were called samurais. This machine researched all it could on these warriors and as such fashioned its entire core around their code. Wielding a curved blade almost as tall as itself it had perched itself on the siege unit. Hearing one of its captains approach them they turned to address them, leaving its conversation with its lords behind. Wearing a samurai helmet that also held the symbol of the phoenix it motioned for their captain to talk. 

_“It appears that the 2_ _nd_ _wave has failed.”_

_“Impossible the lone android was not enough to handle their strength.”_

_“Not alone milord, she was assisted by another android, one who fell out of the sky,”_ Doubting its captain’s words, the commander reached into the local machine network and scoured the data banks of the 2nd wave, trying to find who this mysterious android was. Finding an intact video log the commander was surprised to what it held concerning the identity of the mysterious android. 

**_“Name’s Jason Oliver, I’m here to help you with that siege unit. Hope we work well together.”_ **

Coming back from its dive into the network the commander addressed the captain with new instructions. _“Divert any available forces to the defense of our frontal assault. The mysterious android is an interest to my lords and they wish to test his worth. Do so without fail.”_ Having received its orders, the captain bowed to the commander before running off to accomplish its task. The once waiting machines scattered across the camp begun to rush to the frontlines, eager to please. Turning back to the burning forest that was currently swarming in machines, the commander pulled out its blade to see its own reflection and ponder on the current circumstances. There was an unknown variable present that would jeopardize the entire assault. However, this assault would no fail, he would scorch this land in its lords’ name and kill all who dared opposed them. It would intervene if required because after all... 

It was not named Ko-jiro the Peerless Blade for losing battles, it had yet to bring shame to its lords. 

And it would not start today. 

**“I ask you. Are you my master?”**

**-Saber, Fate Stay Night**


	5. [E]choes

“Behind you!” Jason warned as he stabbed his knife into the head of machine and unloading a clip of arc rounds into the opening. Hearing the warning 5B had responded to the ambushing machine with her sword piercing through its body. “Pod!” She screamed as she manhandled the corpse back to the enemy line. _“Affirmative”_ It followed up the throw by charging up its laser and causing a chain reaction within the enemy ranks, clearing the field. Taking a deep breath Jason allowed his muscles to rest after what felt like killing his 30th machine. His armor had taken a bit of damage from the strange projectiles that some of the gunners had fired at him, they hurt like hell when they hit though. Gazing at his new ‘partner’ she looked like she was in a similar state. Her once red eyes had reverted back to the calm blue it was but the energy she had used from earlier was starting to take its toll on her. 

“You alright?” 5B could only offer a small smile to the strange android that had seemingly dropped from the sky. She was fully prepared to sacrifice her body for the accomplishment of destroying the siege unit, and her own personal reasons, but this newcomer had knocked some reason to her that only 10S was able to do. 

**_“I need to finish this fight, thank you for the help back there but I can handle this now,” After Jason was able to take care of the machines that had given her trouble 5B was feeling anxious to get back into the battlefield. She could feel her Berserker program eroding any sense she had left in her and if she didn’t get back into the fray, she would shut down from the programming abuse. Lucky for her Jason had other ideas. “Oh no you don’t,” Quickly grabbing onto her hand she experienced another shock run through her body as she felt her body heat up once more. She prided herself to uphold the_** ** _YoRHa_ ** **_standard and deemed emotions irrelevant. Usually she would punch any other android in the face for attempting what Jason did but here she couldn’t help but lose herself to this pleasant feeling._ **

**_“You’re going to burn yourself up if you keep this up, want to be paraded as a martyr for your fellow soldiers!?” She couldn’t even voice her willingness to go through with her suicide attack but just allowed herself to be berated by the Pilot, like how the Commander would berate those that would fail her. “I mean you think there would those that would mourn your death?” Normally a_** ** _YoRHa_** ** _unit didn’t have to fear death as there was always uploading their data to the Bunker so that a new body would be built for them. However, if she had allowed the Berserker Program to be active when she did offline then she’d be factory reset to ensure that she wouldn’t break the rules again. A factory reset also meant losing all memory data from every android she held dear to her._ **

**_All the boring but pleasant times she spent with 10S on the field researching different types of flora, don’t ask her but apparently all Scanner Units had a deep love for flowers. All the times she spent listening to 510 talking on ends about the various old-world articles about activities humans partook in before their fall. All of that would’ve been wiped if she had continued on with her suicide attack._ **

**_Needless to_** ** _say,_** ** _this was the fastest time she’d ever switch off her battle mode in the middle of a battle._ **

Walking through an empty forest, 5B and her pod made up the rear guard while Jason made up the vanguard. She insisted that she should lead the group but when asked if she could navigate a forest without getting detected she allowed herself to once more be proved wrong. Normally she allowed 10S to take point in stealth missions but seeing as he was still coordinating the Resistance forces, she let him take point. Her mood however was lifted a bit when he allowed her to take point once they made it to the burning sections of the battlefield, where there was bound to be hostiles. 

_“Pod 902 to Unit 5B,”_ Her pod called out as she looked towards her pod in surprise. The pod had remained silent since the appearance of Jason and she had assumed that it was fine with the additional help. The pod was so similar to how 10S acted that she’d occasionally call the Pod 10S to rile up 10S, and be silently amused at his reactions. _“This unit wishes to discuss_ _sensitive_ _matters with Unit_ _5.._ ” Whatever the pod was going to say was interrupted as Jason held up his fist, motioning them to stop. Pulling out her swords she quickly turned around to form a defensive circle with him. 

“We’ve been walking for a short while and yet we haven’t encountered anything yet,” Taking the value of his words 5B quickly scanned their surroundings. True to his word everything was unnaturally quiet, The loud clanking of machines that had swarmed them earlier could no longer be heard, only the distant sounds of fighting and the occasional mortar round was all they could hear. 

_Crack!_

Simultaneously 5B threw her blade while Jason fired 2 rounds at the sudden noise in front of them. The sound of metal hitting metal before the sound of her blade impaling the noisemaker quickly disrupted any of the peace they were enjoying earlier. All was still for a moment until their culprit revealed itself. Stepping out of the shadows was what Jason assumed was a captain machine, by the more armor and weaponry it possessed and the fact that it had blocked both of their attacks. Holding a shield that had blocked his bullets and been a cushion for 5B’s sword the captain walked a bit forward until he was comfortable a few feet ahead of them. _“Interesting, it seems that I was bit hasty with my plans...however,”_

As if some invisible signal was given the duo suddenly found themselves surrounded on all sides as the ambush revealed themselves. It seemed that the bulk of the machines that had been missing knew that they were coming and set themselves up to trap the duo. Seeing at how they had been able to take the pair by surprise their plan worked. Jason cursed himself for falling into their trap, berating himself for not seeing it sooner, 5B on the other hand was experiencing the same sort of despair that she had encounter earlier. 

**_“5B don’t go too far!”_ **

**_“What’s the worry we’re all alone!”_ **

Feeling the same anger from before, she was about to once more activate the Berserker program until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking back, she saw that her temporary partner had laid a hand on her shoulder to hold her back while looking back at her. “Save it for the head honcho, then vent your rage onto him,” Giving a nod of agreement she regained control of her emotions before analyzing for a way out of this mess. “Pod analysis, is there a way out?” 

_“Negative there is a low chance of survival.”_

“Well isn’t that great” 

The captain didn’t care for their whispers as he continued to speak. _“My commander has taken a great interest to you Jason Oliver.”_ The mentioned pilot could only react in shock and pointed to himself to make sure that he had heard the machine correctly. _“Yes, you Jason, if you comply with our terms of surrender rest assured that you and your comrade here will be treated with upmost care, after all we the Phoenixes fight with honor,”_ Fighting back a curse Jason really didn’t want to comply with their terms. Honorable at first yes but it would stack the odds against them later when they’d be dragged off towards the camp, where their numbers would at least double if they chose to fight there. “There must be a way out,” He frantically darted his eyes around the enemy formation for at least an exploit they could use but where was it. 

! 

Looking behind the captain his eyes could make out a small disturbance in the trees. Squinting his eyes, he focused on a particular tree until he could find what he was looking for. A sudden breeze of wind started to lift leaves into the air and all seemed normal...until one leaf looked like it had hit an invisible object. 

Bingo. 

“Brace yourself 5B its about to get messy,” He warned as he felt her ready to fight before answering the captain’s deal. “Tell your commander that he’ll have to wait a bit more if he wants to see me.” Unable to comprehend the answer it was given the commander was about to ask what he meant till his entire upper half was sliced away from the rest of the body. 

Well more like it was hit so hard that the upper body was torn apart by a sword twice its size as the upper remains rocketed out in the sky, landing somewhere far away in the forest. The wielder of the massive sword revealed themselves as behind the captain Mercury decloaked from his position. Sword in hand the lumbering Titan addressed the now leaderless machines with a wave of his hand. 

**“Hello there”**

* * *

_“Machine 4 any word back from Captain Nobu yet?”_

_“Negative Machine 10 there’s been no word from him yet”._

_“Keep checking he was due about a minute ago, Commander Ko-Jiro has been expecting him”_

_“Roger that”_

_“Hold that thought Machine 10 I’m detecting Captain Nobu’s signal,_ _It_ _looks like he’s coming up ahead,”_

_“...”_

_“Strange he’s not hailing us on the comms, Captain Nobu please respond!”_

_“...”_

_“Captain! Please respond!”_

_“...”_

Before the machine guard could hail the captain once more, an object from the tree line were thrown at high velocity towards the guard, slamming and crushing the poor thing. If one was able to see the instance of contact then they would’ve seen the lower legs of Captain Nobu slamming into the machine. Unable to voice its shock, the other machine was gunned down from beyond the trees until it too was deactivated. Capitalizing on the shock the tree line burst open as the attackers made themselves known. 

Mercury was the 1st to step out from the shadows and he immediately rushed straight at the siege cannon. The other machines present though wouldn’t allow the titan to destroy the siege unit without a fight. Almost immediately every unit begun to open fire on the rushing combatant. One machine near the tree line was about to fire until a knife erupted out of its chest. Jason quickly dislodged his knife out of the machine before opening fire on the rest of the machines, who couldn’t react fast enough to the new threat and were thus mowed down. On the opposite side 5B and her pod appeared and started to make quick work of the forces on their side of the siege unit. Fast as they appeared, so too did the devastation that they inflicted onto the machine forces 

Without any defensive capabilities left the siege unit was left defenseless. Slowly approaching the now doomed siege unit Mercury pulled out his arc blade. The machines manning the cannon tried to pitifully put up a fight but Mercury's frame absorbed all of their shots like sponge. Holding his sword above his head he was about go for an overhead strike on the siege unit, one clean swipe to end it all. 

! 

Mid-strike Mercury was barely able deviate his sword strike into a block against a sword slash that would’ve chopped off his eye in one motion. Bursting from within the siege unit Ko-jiro appeared, sword humming with energy and red eyes promising carnage. Landing onto the floor the crimson machine was about to rush the still off-balanced titan until it blocked two swords slamming down unto him. 

**“I’LL KILL YOU!”** Screamed 5B as she unleashed her anger that she had been reserving for this moment. All of her combat chips and Berserker Program sung once more as her eyes turned back to red. Without reprieve she slammed both her swords into the machine's blade, pushing him a few feet back. Not giving it a chance to attack she rushed Ko-jiro swords drawn and once more engaged him. As she repeatedly attacked the guard of Ko-Jiro she expected his guard to crumble, to fall under the onslaught of her rage. However, Ko-jiro calmly met her attacks with precisely timed guards, a stalemate between the raging bull and the stalwart bastion. 

This exchange of blows however would not last as 5B’s rage made her once precise devastating attacks into clumsy strikes that only held power. Capitalizing on her rage Ko-jiro transitioned from a block into a well-timed parry, knocking her greatsword off her left hand and to the floor with a clang. 5B was left stunned as her onslaught was suddenly stopped in front of her eyes and she was and now was left defenseless for the samurai to attack her. 

Only to be forced once more on the defensive as Jason made himself known. 

While he lacked the destructive power and speed that 5B had he made up in technique with the blade. This time he forced Ko-Jiro to mix up his defense with some dodging as he made sure that any defense that the machine was broken up in a matter of seconds. Rather than be forced to block Ko-Jiro was given opportunities to clash blades with the pilot, ensuring a symphony of clashes between their blades. However, this wouldn’t go for long as while Jason was human and had limitations, Ko-Jiro was a machine and had none of those shortcomings. Dodging out of a clumsy strike the commander gave a hard kick to Jason’s gut, who felt a rib or two break under the force, before getting launched back into the ground. 

Landing with a thud he looked up from his position as the imposing machine was about to kill him, only for him to tilt his head to the left before seeing the next attack. While 5B and Jason had tried to surprise the machine when it least expected it, Mercury mirrored their actions a bit differently. Rather than try to grab the machine’s attention he just straight up wanted to end the fight. 

By throwing a hard punch at the machine. 

This time Ko-Jiro couldn't defend against the massive fist and was sent flying into the air from the impact. Rag dolling in the air for a moment Ko-Jiro was able to control his momentum and make a somewhat controlled landing. Kneeling he checked his armor as there was now a noticeable damage to it as Mercury’s fist had bashed through and tore his shoulder armor. Ignoring the damage done to him, he was about grab his sword and continue the fight until he received a message. 

_ >>Oh Ko-_ _jiro_ _! I’m here to provide you with some_ _backup! <_ _< _

There was only one robot with that irritating female voice that had access to his comms and it was the only robot he would kill in cold blood. 

_ >>Speak now vixen before I come and personally slice your vocal circuitry right open<< _

_ >>Oh Ko-_ _jiro_ _you know that I only want the best for you,_ _hahahaha!_ _< < _

Feeling his patience running out from the conversation he focused back on the fight and noticed his attackers regrouped with each other, ready to attack him together this time. 

_ >>Well pleasantries out of the way I have new orders for you, you’re being ordered to retreat<< _

_ >>WHAT! Why am I to retreat!?<< _

_ >>Honestly, I would’ve loved to leave you to die with your _ _so-called_ _honor but orders from Adam and Eve aren’t to be disobeyed. << _

_ >>Tch,Fine what are my orders Shiva.<< _

_ >>See wasn’t that so hard to comply with me.<< _

He could imagine her irritable face lighting up with delight as she basked in making him submit to her orders for this moment. 

_ >>I am to provide covering fire for you and your forces to take advantage of so you can retreat back to us.<< _ Receiving a live visual of a barrage of warheads about to hit his position from her and once he did agree with what she had said did Shiva continue with her mission objective. 

_ >>Then you and your forces are to rendezvous with me at the Leviathan where the next phase will be discussed.<< _

Rising from his position Ko-jiro bowed at his adversaries. “Forgive me for this dishonorable act but it seems I must leave you, rest assured that on my honor that we will finish this fight properly.” Without giving them a chance to respond he fled into the forest, signaling his troops to retreat as well. “HEY! GET BACK HERE!” 5B yelled out as she prepared to give chase till, she was grabbed by Mercury. “Hey! What gives!” 

Pointing toward the sky the titan warned them of the new threat. **“Warning multiple warheads incoming, we must retreat to a safe area.”** Without leaving room for an argument he scooped up 5B and Jason into his arms before bolting from the area, Pod 902 following closely behind. Not even a second later the once crucial siege unit and the surrounding area was engulfed by an exploding warhead, other areas in the forest experiencing a similar fate. 

* * *

Overlooking the now war-torn forest from the Resistance Base Jason slumped back onto the shoulder of Mercury. After successfully dodging the rain of artillery did the group rendezvous with the rest of the Resistance at the outpost. While they were lucky in coming out unscathed the rest of the androids weren’t as fortunate. They didn’t get a heads-up of the bombardment and as a result each group had lost about half of its forces from the sudden artillery before coming back to the outpost. Spirits were down as not only did they lose the secret location of their base but also lost most of their members in the fight. 

5B and 10S were currently in a meeting with the Commander about what to do next. 

“5B and 10S report.” While Commander White was displeased at what had occurred at the base, but she was glad that her two YoRHa androids were safe and hoped they had some better news for her. 10S took a step forward and begun to explain the situation to her. “Commander the attack led by Ko-Jiro and his Phoenixes dealt a heavy blow to the Resistance. They’ve lost about half of their fighting capacity and most of the survivors are non-combative androids. Any hopes of maintaining the base is nonexistent as the forestry that hid the base is all burned up.” 

Leaning back into her chair Commander White suppressed the sigh that was about to escape her. Pinching the bridge of her nose she wanted to finish the report before talking with Anemone about their next move. Losing the base meant they lost any good chance to hopefully invade that machine-controlled territory for the foreseeable future. “Anything else to report?” 

This time 5B stepped up to address the Commander. “Yes, Commander there is something we’d like to report, it concerns the mystery machine we were assigned to watch out for.” A brief flicker of surprise flashed across White’s face before she suppressed it. Maybe this wasn’t a complete disaster after all. She motioned for 5B to carry on with her report. “We encountered the mystery machine on the battlefield ma’am” 

“And was it hostile? Did it attack you?” 

“Negative the machine actually assisted us in our fight, if it wasn’t for its intervention then I fear there would be more casualties,” 5B corrected until she realized a crucial detail she had left out. “And it’s not by itself, it has an accompanying android with it as well. The relationship they have is similar to that of me and 10S.” Motioning for the pod to move so that the Commander could catch the duo relaxing away from them. Apparently whatever conversation they were having was interrupted as Jason caught their eyes and waved at them, not realizing that they were being watched by her higher ups. “Very well, I trust that they are fine accompanying you until I can interview them face to face,” Seeing 5B nod White let out a small sigh of relief at least something turned out right. The Commander started to think on how to proceed from here. Without consulting the other Commanders, she wouldn’t be able to make a plan for them but she knew at least where to place them that they would be the safest till she had a plan for them 

“5B and 10S,” Hearing their names the mentioned androids stood upright as their commander delegated their orders. “You are to take both the remaining Resistance members and our mystery pair to our Tidal Command Base. You are to then wait for your next orders while there,” Finishing up with her orders Commander White gave them a chest salute to which they returned. “Glory to Mankind!” 

“Glory to Mankind!” 

“Glory to Mankind!” 

* * *

_ >>>Shiva, I have new orders for you and Ko-Jiro.<<< _

_ >>_ _Yes,_ _Lord Adam what new 'entertainment' do you plan for us to partake in. << _

_ >>>Ever the sadist Shiva, you are to rendezvous with Boreas and his Chimeras. After that the three of you shall coordinate an assault that shall break this stalemate we have found ourselves in.<<< _

_ >>Knowing __Vortex,_ _he’ll enjoy this theatrical battle that you have planned for us. << _

_ >>>And while he may be a simplistic brute, he is not called the Sky’s Wrath for being gentle.<<< _

_ >> I almost pity the _ _androids;_ _they’ll experience so much pain. << _

_ >>>From Boreas or you Shiva, the one infamous with torturing her victims.<<< _

_ >>Ara_ _ara_ _you know me so well milord, what is our_ _target? <_ _< _

_ >>>Why what else then the YoRHa Tidal Command Base.<<< _

Deep within the sea Shiva laughed to herself within the bridge of her ship, The Leviathan. It was a massive underwater dreadnought that served as the headquarters for her division, The Sirens. Shiva was a very unique machine. Rather than her owning the ship it was more like she was the ship. The bridge was a very large circular room that had a large open space in the middle, with a half circular catwalk. The other half of the room that the catwalk didn’t connect to was a massive collection of screens detailing various bits of info, from reinforcement requests to mundane allocation of resources. There various machines manned the terminals but there was no main terminal for controlling the ship itself. 

There surrounded by the catwalk was Shiva. She was the literal brain of the ship as instead of limbs she had various wires protruding from her lower half that connected her to the various areas of the ship. Her frame was connected to a suspender on the ceiling that allowed her to freely move around the room without her wiring impeding her. Her frame was taller than the average frame but skinnier than them, almost giving a humanoid appearance. On her head sat a veil of crystals she had found on the ocean floor, sitting there without purpose. Laughing at their next target she reveled in the upcoming massacre that she would partake in. The Oceanic might of the Sirens, the simplistic but powerful Phoenixes, and the wrathful judgement of the Chimeras. It almost made her pity the androids, almost. 

Hearing a groan, she looked down to see that one of her android prisoners was still alive. It was more like corpse of an android as the body was held in the air by chains and only had one arm remaining. The body was wrought with signs of various abuse. Around the android were similarly abused androids, all of which who died from her fun. Yanking the android from the chains she tilted her head and addressed the dying android. _“Oh,_ _you're_ _still alive?”_

“G-go to hell you witch.” 

_“And this insect still has a nasty tongue on it,”_ Moving two of her wires to appear behind her, she sparked them alive with electricity; enjoying the look of despair that flashed across the android’s face. 

_“_ _Let's_ _fix that shall we.”_

The shrieking that filled the bridge was music to her ears. Yes, she cared not for the honor that Ko-jiro held so dearly or the thrill of battle that Boreas enjoyed. Only for the depravity that others displayed when so close to death. 

How sweet their despair tasted to her. 

And she would hear a symphony full of them at the YoRHa Tidal Command Base. 

**"Do exactly as you like. That is the true meaning of pleasure. Pleasure leads to joy and joy leads to happiness."**

**\- King of Heroes, Gilgamesh. Fate Stay Night**


	6. Interludes [1]

_ >This is Tactical Support Unit Pod 902.< _

_ >This is Tactical Support Unit Pod 638.< _

_ >Permission to exchange sensitive information.< _

_ >Permission granted.< _

_ >…< _

_ >Inquiry: This information is Alpha Level locked, why does Pod 902 possess data correlated to it.< _

_ >This pod came across this data from the recent skirmish, is not final. Require more time for analysis.< _

_ > _ _ YoRHa _ _ Unit 10S would be more suitable for this analysis, Proposal: Hand sensitive data to Unit 10S.< _

_ >Negative Pod 638 this data is inconclusive, it would lead for Unit 10S to jeopardize  _ _ YoRHa _ _ Project.< _

_ >Inquiry: What does Pod 902 wish to do  _ _ next?< _

_ >Proposal: Continue to watch Unit ‘Jason’ for more data.< _

_ >Affirmative Pod 902, overwatch of Unit ‘Jason’ shall continue.< _

* * *

_ >>>This is Commander White.<<< _

_ >>>This is Commander Black reporting in.<<< _

_ >>>…<<< _

_ >>>It appears that Commander Gray is unable to join our meeting White. Should we continue without  _ _ him? < _ _ << _

_ >>> _ _ Yes, _ _ Black we will inform him later about the details of this meeting.<<< _

_ >>>Then let us commence this meeting.<<< _

_ >>>…<<< _

_ >>>It appears we have lost the outpost in the Gaea territory, this will setback any major offensives we’ve had planned in that region for the foreseeable future.<<< _

_ >>>Dammit that opens up so many more problems for us. This was the territory where the Phoenixes, Sirens, and Chimeras had set up their fortresses in. Destroying them would’ve been a decisive blow against the Aliens and their machines. And now we have to worry about more losses to their attacks now, Anemone has lost many of her outposts because they were unprepared for the difficulty of these trained machines.<<< _

_ >>>…<<< _

_ >>>Commander White? Are you  _ _ okay?< _ _ << _

_ >>>Commander Black....Have we been doing the right  _ _ thing?< _ _ << _

_ >>>I beg your  _ _ pardon?< _ _ << _

_ >>>Us as Commander Units,  _ _ Have _ _ we’ve been doing the right thing. Hiding things from our  _ _ subordinates. _ _ <<< _

_ >>>You’ve been thinking about A2, about the Attack on Pearl Harbor.<<< _

_ >>>If I had told the group the real reason why we planned that assault, how it was basically a suicide mission for her squadron and the real reason was for an Executioner Unit to kill a rogue unit that knew the true intentions of  _ _ YoRHa _ _ then maybe A2 wouldn’t have...<<< _

_ >>>Careful White you’ll...<<< _

_ >>>And how many orders have I given to Executioners to kill rogue androids, many of them being close to them. How many more times have we lied to our subordinates about Humanity? Telling them to put their all for the survival of a race that no longer exists!<<< _

_ >>> _ _ …. _ _ This _ _ anger is  _ _ unbecoming _ _ of you Commander White.<<< _

_ >>>I’m tired of all these lies Black, of all I have done to uphold  _ _ YoRHa _ _. I no longer can  _ _ safely _ _ power down without my failures haunting me. No matter how many times I perform a data cleaning I am unable to escape them.<<< _

_ >>>Commander White I feel the same as you do, more than you will ever know. While you may be the head leader of  _ _ YoRHa _ _ due to your superior programming do not forget I was the first Commander Unit to be produced. I have done unimaginable things to keep this war going and I know our day of reckoning will come. You want my advice White, keep your fears to yourself because the moment you start to show failure then so too will you forces. We have to keep going, for all those we have sacrificed. We owe it to them.<<< _

_ >>>Even still it doesn’t make it easier.<<< _

_ >>>It never will White, it never does.<<< _

* * *

_ >>> _ _ Adam, _ _ I have a question for you.<<< _

_ >>>Very well Eve what is it.<<< _

_ >>>I am confused concerning the war but more specifically about N1 and N2.<<< _

_ >>>Careful brother, you’re threading on dangerous grounds over there.<<< _

_ >>>Still brother what is going through their minds right now, I mean we’ve killed our creators and we could easily win the war against the androids. So why  _ _ wait?< _ _ << _

_ >>>Eve.<<< _

_ >>>Yes brother.<<< _

_ >>>The best things come to those who wait, those who are patient. Do not antagonize over what has yet to  _ _ come. < _ _ << _

_ >>> _ _ ….Fine _ _ but all this waiting is so boring! .... I know let's play a game brother! <<< _

_ >>>Very well Eve<<< _

* * *

_ >>Hey 2B, you ever think about what humans are like<< _

_ >>No 9S << _

_ >>C'mon 2B you have to be curious at least. I mean no-one knows a thing about humans even though  _ _ our _ _ creators.<< _

_ >>Focus on the war first 9S, such thoughts will distract you on the battlefield.<< _

_ >>You’re no fun 2B, almost like 21O.<< _

_ //Operator 21O has joined// _

_ >>Oh, and what have you been talking about over here 9S << _

_ >> _ _ Oh _ _ crap  _ _ uhh _ _... I just remembered of an assignment that I forgot to complete. I’ve got to finish it before the Commander gets mad at me, kay seeyoulaterbye!<< _

_ // Unit 9S has left// _

_ << I knew something was wrong when he wasn’t picking up as usual. I actually have a mission for him from the Commander so now I have to go find him. I hope I didn’t intrude on anything important here 2B.<< _

_ >> You didn’t 21O, it was only him talking about humans again.<< _

_ >>I see, goodbye 2B.<< _

_ //Operator 21O has left// _

_ >> 9S I hope one day you’ll lose your interest over humans because they aren’t the benevolent people you think they  _ _ are _ _. They’re responsible for this cycle of suffering we are in.<< _

_ II Warning  _ _ previous _ _ message has been deleted II _

_ //Operator 6O has joined// _

_ >>Oh, there you are 2B I got a new mission for you from a Resistance Android, something about clearing a machine nest.<< _

_ >>All right operator, send me the details, I'm on my way.<< _

* * *

_ >>Jason we are in danger, I do believe that traveling with the Resistance is a bad idea.<< _

_ >> _ _ Oh, _ _ do tell Mercury.<< _

_ >>While being seemingly human it is clear that they are not human.<< _

_ >>Really? I thought they were just super-enhanced humans or what not.<< _

_ >>Negative when I was carrying 5B she was three times heavier than you and after doing some analysis I was able to locate  _ _ a chip _ _ signal within her. She, 10S, and all the of the other Resistance members share the same chip and by definition are all androids.<< _

_ >>Wait then wouldn’t their instruments be able to pick up the fact that I don’t possess one of those chips and in turn, a human?<< _

_ >>Negative your armor emits a similar signal to that of the androids. As far as they are concerned you are just an old android model.<< _

_ >>Still the fact that we haven’t seen a human yet, or civilization at all, means that I’m probably the last human here.<< _

_ >>Correct I have done some analysis and I have figured it out which we planet we are  _ _ on.< _ _ < _

_ >>Let me guess we’re on Earth.<< _

_ >>Correct Pilot. May I ask how you  _ _ knew?< _ _ < _

_ >>Everything about this planet when we first landed here matched Earth’s environment. I had my suspicions about it but I couldn’t confirm it until we fought that Ko- _ _ jiro _ _ dude. He had a Phoenix painted on him and was dressed like a Samurai of all things.<< _

_ > _ _ > Analysis _ _ : I believe that the Fold Weapon tore through the space-time continuum its final moments and as a result we were transported into a different Earth. Knowing this Pilot do you still wish to fight with the androids.<< _

_ >>You saw it as well I did Mercury, they’re basically humans, minus the metal parts, but you get my point. Humans are probably extinct here and they’ve probably forgotten us by now.  _ _ We’ll just _ _ fly by undetected. Besides if humanity is no longer worth fighting for here then will fight to end this war between machines and androids.<< _

_ >> Just like old  _ _ times?< _ _ < _

_ >> Just like old times Mercury.<< _


	7. River of [F]ate

In an open plain a moose was innocently grazing without a care in the world. He lived a peaceful life, eat, sleep, and repeat. Hearing a loud noise near him he averted his head from grazing to see what was going on. Seeing the source of noise coming closer he ran away from the plains to the forest for safety. 

Jason stretched his arms before hearing a satisfying crack. It was the 3 rd day since the Resistance had started their journey to the  YoRHa Tidal Command Base. Apparently, the base was very far from the outpost but it happened to be the only base that was the nearest to them in this machine-infested territory. Looking from his perch on top of Mercury’s shoulder he looked back at the makeshift convoy they were able to stitch together. Having to abandon the outpost meant that they had to take back any important machinery left behind and transport the wounded, which were quite  a lot . They had no reliable way to transport the wounded and machinery without having the trip taking forever so they had to find a mode of transportation able to carry the majority of the supplies. 

They were finally able to have a stroke of luck as a group of androids happened to discover an abandoned Goliath tank, deserted from the machines trying to retreat. Retrofitting it, they solved their transportation problem and officially they began their trek to the Tidal base. He and Mercury would bring up the front while 5B and 10S would bring up the rear. There were obvious signs of distrust among the Resistance from having a machine guard them but it was more of being on edge from the previous machine assault rather than actual fear of the titan. They had previous meetings with peaceful machines in the area for exchange of materials before so interactions with machines were common.

“Hey Mercury how much longer do we have until we get there?”

** “Judging from our speed and the distance we have  ** ** left; ** ** I calculate that it will be another week until we hit the base” **

Sighing deeply at the prospect of traveling another week he focused his attention on the environment around them. Seeing the open plains, they were traveling on he couldn’t help but smile at the familiar moose and boars innocently meandering without a care in the world. Even if the boars were now 3x their size it was a great feeling being back on Earth, albeit a different one at that. Taking a deep breath of the natural air around them, a beeping noise could be heard on his gauntlet and showing a caller ID. It was 10S. Having to travel with them the Resistance saw fit to upgrade his gauntlet to be able to take calls from both  YoRHa and Resistance alike. They had assumed that he was a very old android model and didn’t ask any questions regarding his history and model, which he was very glad for. Accepting the call, a miniature screen popped up with 10S’s face in it. “What's up 10S everything good back there?”

“Yeah everything is good back here, I just wanted to ask you some questions regarding your history,”

Did 10S already figure out that he was a human!? “Uh sure go ahead”

“ So, your model is very old, right?”

“Yeah...”

“And that means you probably know a lot about  humans, right?”

“Y-yeah why?” He  hesitantly asked, holding his breath

“Perfect! I’ve got some questions that I think you probably can answer for me,” He cheerly said.

Releasing the breath that he had been holding in Jason couldn’t help but chuckle a bit before agreeing with the scanner. “ Sure, 10S fire away.”

“Yes! Oh, 51O will be so jealous, imagine all the data I’m going to get from this!” For supposedly being an android built to be humanity’s last hope he sure acted like a kid in a candy shop. It was nice that androids had the ability to act on their emotions and not be mindless drones.

“Alright 1 st question: What was a fairground?”

Really? That was a pretty basic question. “A fairground was a place where humans would go and enjoy various attractions and foods. It was one of the many  places humans would go to unwind from their lives or spend it with their families.”

Nodding  vigorously 10S asked another question. “Ok next question: What is a Sakura tree?”

A Sakura  tree ? “I thought you were asking me about humans, not trees 10S”

“I know but I recently sent a 51O an Old-World article and it mentioned how Sakura trees were special to humans compared to regular trees. I’ve never seen a Sakura tree before so I’m curious.”

“Well for one  humans gave meaning to the tree,  it's not like it’s a miracle maker or something like that. A Sakura Tree is a pretty special tree in that it can grow flowers that are pink which made it stand out from the normal green trees we see now. They associated the tree with love so that’s why it's so popular with humans, alongside the fact it was a sight to see.”

“A pink tree!?, I would’ve loved to see it in real life, there must’ve been so much more things that were beautiful in this world,” Lamented 10S at all the possibilities that he could’ve seen.

Laughing at his predicament Jason reassured the distressed scanner. “Trust me 10S if there’s one thing that I know about this world is that it will always surprise you, some good and some...,” He begun to trail off as a shadow begun to descend over him. Looking up he realized that they were no longer in the open plains but now they were in front of a large mountain cave. The inside cave was pitch black and seemed to stretch on forever. 

“Bad,” He finished before calling out to the convoy. “ ….Uh is this the right place because this looks like a death trap,” He called back to the rest of the convoy. The captain looked confused at what he meant until he looked around and realized that they had arrived at the pass. Rushing over to the entrance he looked around the entrance and muttered something to himself before calling out for the convoy. “Alright! We’ll be passing through here! Keep close to the Goliath so you don’t get lost!” He received a chorus of “yes sir!” as everyone begun to get ready for the dark passage ahead.

“Uh Jason over here,” He whispered loud enough for the pilot to here. Having his attention, he begun to explain the dilemma. “Look I didn’t want to panic the rest but there was supposed to be someone here that was meant to have scout out the way. Them not being here...,” It didn’t take a genius to figure out that there was danger ahead. A scout not reporting in meant that they had died in the field, as a Wayfarer he knew it well. Giving a nod to the captain to watch out for threats he activated his lights on his helmet while Mercury activated his. Then they were the first to descend into the unknown. 

As the rest of the convoy entered in, if they would’ve noticed at the side of the forest, in a clearing.

Buried underneath all the bushes there.

The  dismembered head of the Resistance scout rested there

His face frozen full of fear. 

* * *

“How anyone thought that this was a suitable passage must’ve been on something else,” Jason muttered hatefully as they continued walking through the dark. The tunnel itself had obviously been used in the early days of the Machine War as it was the typical military style tunnel. However, years of this region being under machine control led to the tunnel being abandoned and deserted. “Mercury how we holding up? We anywhere near an exit point at all.”

** “Negative, the depths that we are currently in are interfering with my instruments down here. Estimate is currently unknown,” ** Mercury had a better flashlight system than his armor provided him so he covered any spots that Mercury missed in his broad sweeps of the tunnel. The others behind fared no better as they only had a flashlight so it pretty much went down to Mercury ensuring that they were safe and they just checked whatever he didn’t illuminate at first.

As they continued to walk in the darkness, he couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong here, like someone was watching them. Looking to his right he swore that something was there. Shaking his head, he berated himself for believing that a ghost was here. “C'mon Jason you’re a  goddamm Wayfarer for crying out loud, you’ve been to places scarier than this,” He assured himself but did nothing to ease his fears.

Passing what seemed to be a military checkpoint he couldn’t help but marvel at how the it seemed  relatively untouched. Granted that being abandoned had pretty much destroyed the look but if you squinted hard enough you could imagine the checkpoint. The little toll booth still had some intact windows and the red light reflected off of it did give off the military feel and...

Wait

Red Light?

“Mercury hold up,” Feeling his titan stop for a moment he focused more on the red light. None of the tunnel lights were working and it didn’t look like that an electronic was inside the booth so where the hell was it coming from? Looking at how the light reflected the source seemed to be upward, he moved his head to look above him. His lone flashlight barely made it visible but it appeared that nothing was up there. “Big guy look up for a second will you.” Complying with the request Mercury shined his light upward and revealed a bit more of the darkness. “Is that a hand?” 

It wasn’t his imagination acting up as it was indeed a hand.

A hand clothed with a symbol

The symbol of the Resistance Outpost he just happened to be with. 

“OH SHIT!! THERE”S SOMETHING ABOVE US!” Like oil to fire everyone frantically pointed their flashlights upward, revealing the horror of what the ceiling held. Multiple android and machine bodies hung to the ceiling, most of them in positions of being crucified or tortured to death. Chains hung the bodies like ornaments for a Christmas tree as some form of artistic expression. The artist of said art was also present and the state of each body reflected the horrid beast that called this place home.

Hanging from the chains was an arachnid like machine. Everything about it screamed abomination; as if every piece of the machine seemed straight out of the depths of hell itself. Each spider leg was different from the last but all shared the same attribute of being demonic and twisted. The main body was similar to that of a machine but that’s where the similarities ended. Sharing the demonic theme, the machine body was riddled with different weaponry that had shredded its armor to an absolute mess which contributed to its deranged look. Noticing that it had visitors it looked down on them, revealing its equally demonic face, with a smile that looked like a knife had carved it out.

Then proceeded to release an ear shrieking scream.

The loud demonic scream it gave off echoed across the tunnel. Suddenly the once abandoned tunnel now became the feeding grounds for this spider demon. “OPEN FIRE!” Screamed the captain and not a moment too soon everyone begun to open fire on the demonic machine. The machine was wholly unprepared for the sudden gunfire as it shielded itself with both its arms. It released another demonic scream once more before ascending upwards into the darkness, where the light could no longer reveal touch it. Then as if a set of dominos had been set off the tunnel around them began to rumble, the ground itself throwing a tantrum. 

“Guys! The floor is giving ou..!” Before Jason could warn them, the ground gave way, dropping anyone caught off guard into the darkness. Mercury lost his balance from the shaking and as a result shook him off in the process. The last thing he was able to see was Mercury trying to catch him before the darkness swallowed him whole.

* * *

**_ “Hey Jason,”  _ ** _ He found his daydreams being interrupted as a voice pulls him away from them. Turning around he smiles at the approaching female, to which she happily returns. _

_ He hugs her as she comes near, an action that she too returns. His mood is comparable to that of the sun, shining full of happiness due to her presence. Being bold he spins her around in a circle. Her shifting from shock to laughter is that of gold. Holding her closer than before he asks her, _ **_ “What brings you here?” _ **

**_ “ _ ** **_ Oh _ ** **_ you know visiting my shining star, what other reason do I need to visit you!”  _ ** _ Giggling a bit, she pulls him in for another big hug. _

**_ “Thank you for visiting me ******, you just made my day,”  _ ** _ ****** nodded happily at his response before she gained a mischievous glint in her eyes. Giving a coy smile she hugged him tighter before slowly moving her head towards him, an action he mirrored _ **_. _ **

_ Just as their lips were about to touch, their breath intermingling with each other she whispered to him. _ **_ “ _ ** **_ W..k _ ** **_. _ ** **_..e _ ** **_ u....p,” _ **

**_ “Huh?”  _ ** _ He pulled back to look at her and again she repeated  _ **_ “Wake up,”  _ ** _ this time without her lips moving. _ **_ “What do you mean?”  _ ** _ He pleaded trying to make sense of the dream. As if the dream itself was sentient the surrounding area begun to darken. Before long the darkness swallowed him whole as her smile was the last  _ _ thing _ _ he saw _

**_ “Wake up” _ **

**_ “Wake up” _ **

_ “...” _

_ “U.. _ _ ni _ _.... J....s...w.....k...e” _

_ “...” _

_ “This is Pod 902 to Unit Jason, are you awake?” _

The monotone voice of the tactical support pod slowly brought Jason back to reality. Groggily he blinked his eyes and tried to look at where he had fallen. Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself off the floor and stood up in the unfamiliar cavern. It looked like the only thing that had fallen with him was 5B’s pod, 902, who was currently floating to his right. “902 right? Where the hell are we?” 

_ “Analysis: It appears that we walked right into a trapped passageway built by the rogue machine. This unit has currently assigned you as its partner due to 5B’s unknown condition for the time being,”  _ So this pod latched onto him for the time being, he was cool with that. It was probably the best call for them to be working together to get out of this mess right now, rather than be divided. “Hey pod you think we should stay here and wait for the others to find us?”

_ “Proposal: Waiting here yields us a higher chance of being danger, like our predecessors before us,” _ Confused Jason looked around and winced at the essential burial ground they had fallen in. Multiple bodies of androids and machines littered the cavern they were in. Whether they were old or recent he didn’t care for but clearly waiting for help to arrive wasn’t the best option. So, the only option they had left was.... Both pilot and pod came to the same conclusion as they grimly looked at each other, or what it appeared to be, before looking at the sole exit of the cavern.

They had to risk encountering whatever the hell called this place home.

_ - _

_ “Warning: We have passed through this similar rock structure already. Proposal turn back and turn right at the previous passageway,” _ Whatever called this mountain was either a demonic genius of creating mazes, or they were just really bad at navigating mazes in the first place. It felt like the span of 3 days had passed in what was reality just 30 minutes of wandering in the dark. He had made the pod remember certain key structures around the maze to ensure that they could eventually find the way out through a process of elimination.  However, their plan seemingly backfired on them as they appeared to have walk through the entire maze 2 times already.

“Alright we aren’t getting anywhere new anytime soon so let’s hunker down and review our info,” Letting his aching legs take a break he plopped down onto the ground with a sigh of relief. Getting his breathing back into rhythm he looked towards the Pod who had joined his sanctuary on the ground. 

“Hey Pod you still got that map on you?” If there was one feature that made the pod superior to Mercury it was its ability to create a map just from its travel path. Giving a soft beep, the pod quickly projected a 3D map of the cavern they had  traversed . They had begun walking around the outskirts of the maze thinking the exit to be there but they had no luck there. Only a few spots where they took one route instead of the other remained and even then, the hopes of the exit being there were slim.

“We’re missing something here, but what is it?” Muttering to himself, Jason felt like that they knew the answer to the maze but they were just missing it. Scratching the back of his neck in irritation due to the circumstances of the situation, he could imagine the spider laughing at them from its perch above them. He personally didn’t believe that a machine couldn’t derive pleasure from the pains of others, at the bottom of the sea a certain machine felt the urge to torture something, but he was starting to believe it now. Maybe if they were joined from their  companions up above then maybe...

Wait a minute

Above?

“Oh my god I think I figured it out,” Bolting up from his position Jason looked directly up towards the ceiling of the cavern, still pitch black but gleaming with a possibility of hope.  _ “Inquiry: what has Unit Jason discovered? _ ” Turning to face the pod with a thumbs up, he reassured the floating pod. “Don’t worry about it, let's check out the missing areas first and then I’ll give you my hypothesis of escaping,” Leaving no room for the pod to voice its opinion he begun to walk away towards the nearest unexplored area. The pod remained still before complying with the weird behavior of Jason and once more begun to float next to him. After all it was paired up with 5B and was used to the silent treatment. It would just continue to follow and serve its partner no matter what.

-

_ “Warning final unknown area up ahead,” _ Having run around the maze finishing up their map they were no closer to figuring out the exit then they were before. However, all was not lost as with each area discovered and each failure allowed Jason to piece together all he needed to solve the puzzle. All he needed was one more piece of the puzzle that would allow them to escape.  _ “Incoming  _ _ YoRHa _ _ distress signal up ahead,” _

Survivors? Without hesitating Jason rushed up ahead to the last area of the maze, Pod 902 following close behind. They entered yet again another dead-end cavern with the usual bodies of machines and androids. About to ask where the signal was Pod 902 whizzed by him and started to scan a pile of rocks that seemed to hold no importance whatsoever.

“What are you?” Before he could finish his question Pod 902 pulled out another pod out of the rubble. The pod had some signs of battle damage but its antenna was still beeping green.  _ “This pod is still functioning but it has lost all motor controls, Repair Time: Unknown.” _

“Can you repair it so that it’ll have access to its combat systems?”

_ “...Affirmative however this pod will be unable to effectively use its combat systems due to its optical systems being too damaged for repairs.” _

“ That's fine I’ll let it sync up to my helmet’s targeting system instead”

_ “Affirmative Unit Jason, reactivating Pod 777’s main combat system” _

A loud beep noise was heard until the once deactivated Pod lit up. A small series of beeps were heard before the pod’s combat system reactivated. The middle of the pod split open before a large barrel transformed its way out. 

_ “Pod 777’s Sniper Rifle has been activated,” _ Not even acknowledging the Pod’s confirmation Jason was too busy looking in awe of the Pod’s sniper rifle. He would ask 5B and 10S if he could get Pod 777 to be his permanent pod. It was basically created for just for him.

His awe however was cut short as Pod 902 warned him of something of a new development. “Warning new  YoRHa signal detected and approaching our position, this android however is wanted for treason and desertion by  YoRHa command,” Having his awe cut short Jason pulled out his sword and settled into a defensive form that faced the exit. Since they were essentially trapped in a room with one exit then they needed to get the jump on this android. There was no way in hell he would be able to match a  YoRHa android’s strength in a fair fight. 

His heart was pounding as the Pod continued to track the android’s signal, as it was getting closer and closer until it was practically at their cavern. He nervously took a deep gulp as he could practically see the shadows of the android against the entrance, and how heavily armed she was with both a sword in hand and greatsword strapped to her back. 

_ “Warning wanted android is...” _ Whatever the pod was going to say was drowned out as Jason stared at the face of the android as she walked in, dropping his stance in shock. “N-n-no way,” He stammered out as a flood of memories came rushing back at him. The long white hair and the face structure the android had reminded him of... 

**_ “As your girlfriend, only I have the privilege of embarrassing you big dummy!” _ **

“A-A-Amelia!”

“Who the hell is Amelia  you dumbass!”

_ “Unit A2”  _ Pod 902 finished out its warning as both pilot and android stared at each other. One was marooned on a world that he had no place in while the other was forsaken by the very same world. Both having never met the other but somehow connected by an invisible string of fate.  Thus set in motion a future that no machine, alien, android, or human could’ve ever seen predicted. What path would this encounter would set off?

Only time would tell.

** “May we meet again in a better life” **

** -Robin Fire Emblem Awakening  **


	8. Stumblin[g] in the Dark

_Why was I created?_

_I thought I was one of you_

_Why am I left_ _forsaken_ _by you, my fellow_ _machines_

_I too share the same programming as you do, built in the same way_

_Only my frame differs from you all but still_

_Why was I abandoned?_

_Left to rot?_

_Left to die?_

_…_

_…_

_…_

_I can no longer remember why_

_Only this insatiable hunger to kill_

_To become the monster you all have wished for._

_…_

_…_

_Still_

_There was something that I clung to_

_A light in the darkness, something to live on for_

_…_

_…_

_But what was it?_

* * *

From the darkness descended the demonic architect that had constructed this elaborate deathtrap in the mountains. Slowly descending on a metal chain, the rogue machine surveyed its trap. It could no longer risk engaging the main convoy that had originally entered the tunnel. Too much firepower that they had, its armor still had singes from their shots. However a few androids were caught by the collapsing floor and were easy pickings for its claws. Now all that remained was the massive cavern that it had left unattended. 

Moving its red eyes, the spider tried to scan for any androids foolish enough to wander aimlessly in its hunting grounds. Moving across its web of chains it could feel its disappointment rising as there were no signs of a recent android presence in the dark cavern. It hoped that it would be able to kill a few more androids from the convoy but no matter, it would wait once more when the convoy had left its home. There would always be more to hunt, it would have to be patient for just a little longer. 

About to ascend back into its nest, it caught sight of a little flashing light. Having kindled its curiosity, the spider crept towards the blinking light. 

Arriving at one of the many little caverns that filled the massive cavern, the machine reached down to pluck the light from its source. Holding onto the light with one hand it realized that it was just a YoRHa support pod. It would gain no satisfaction from such a meager...! 

Surprise flooded its systems as it had failed to notice that the pod’s light system was not the only thing active. 

And promptly paid for its lack of insight with a sniper shot to the eye. 

An ear wracking shriek filled the cavern as it begun to flail around erratically from the pain of having its eye shot off. It swore that it would make the pod suffer for each circuit in its body for the pain it was experiencing. 

“Hook, line, and sinker,” From another cavern Jason smirked at hearing the anguish cries of the spider echo. His mind trailed back to when he revealed the whole plan, he had come up with to deal with getting out of the cavern, 

**_“Alright listen up, our escape will only happen if we kill that roque machine, we leave it alone that thing will hound us to the ends of this mountain.” Looking at the assembled group he couldn’t help but feel his heart break at the sight of Amel...“A2,” He chastised himself at trying to make the impossible happen. She died on that forsaken battlefield way back then, let her rest in peace now._ **

**_“There just happens to be an exit to this maze but the problem happens to be that one, the exit is above us and two, the spider will kill us before any of us get close enough to the exit,” Seeing A2 about to rebuke his statement he held up his hand to let him continue talking. If there was one notable difference between A2 and Amelia it was their personality. Amelia was a little ball of sunshine, never cursing out anyone unless they really deserved it. A2 on the other hand was if you were to take that little ball of sunshine and smash your face against it to let it burn you. From the moment he tried to suggest his plan A2 had been vehement with the idea of a plan, he guessed that calling her by the name of his girlfriend was still a bad topic for her. His shoulder still hurt from when she had clamped down onto it with her hand demanding why he called her Amelia. Lucky for him, making a plan that allowed her to smack the spider to death with her sword quickly pacified her._ **

**_“We need a way to cripple the machine enough so that it’ll be too distracted to notice us coming, then we smack that thing with everything we have,” Glancing down at the resting Sniper Pod he patted the top of its head. “And this pod will give us the opening”_ **

“Alright now A2 should be..,” Hearing a loud shout coming from the opposite side of the cavern, A2 made her presence known. While not being able to see her physically, he could see the sparks her sword generated as metal clashing sang throughout the chasm. Hearing the machine screech in pain meant that A2 was fulfilling her role in the plan. “And now...,” Turning to his right he Pod 902 gave him a thumbs up, their role about to begin. 

“It's our turn.” 

* * *

“Damm machine die already!” Striking hard against one of the spider’s legs with her greatsword enough to shred some of the armor plating off of it. Shrieking at the loss of its armor plating it jumped into the air before landing back onto a new set of suspending chains. Leaving no room of reprieve for the machine A2 chased the spider around the chains. Rolling out of a midair strike, she could only curse at her poor landing on the chains. She fumbled around before stabbing her sword into the chains to gain some footing. 

“Looks like he was right,” He mumbled to herself at her apparent disadvantage in the arena. While she was struggling to traverse the chains, the spider was dancing as if the disadvantages of these web of chains were non-existent to it. She could imagine the gloating laughter the spider was giving her at the apparent lack of familiarity of crossing the chains. 

She was given no reprieve as she started to dodge an incoming barrage of energy bullets as the spider had an array of blasters strapped to its shoulders. Jumping across the chains she hissed as some of the bullets were able to nick her, not like she cared about any new scars on her already war-torn body. Ignoring the pain she capitalized the chains she was standing on by using it as a makeshift catapult to launch at the spider. 

She yelled to the top of her lungs as her foot connected with the spider’s head, knocking it off its respective chain and sprawling out of control into the air. It was however able to grab onto a nearby chain before gaining its composure, only this time a sizeable dent with her foot was engraved to the side of its head. The spider was not happy at the newest addition to its set of scars and wanted to repay A2 the favor with a similar scar, maybe if it stabbed its leg through her then its anger would be satiated. Smirking at the anger it was radiating she hoped that Jason was fulfilling his role in the plan and didn’t forget her when was all said and done. If he did then she would properly show him who the hell she was. 

Speaking of Jason, she couldn’t place a finger on who he was. 

He just seemed to be like the typical Resistance android that she would help out at the request of Anemone. It was just something about him that made her feel strange. Like he was almost human... 

Shaking her head A2 refocused on the fight with the spider, which was very eager to repay the favor, from the loss of its eye and the numerous scars it now had. There were no humans left to fight for. No reason to fight for the freedom of the world. 

**_There on the beach of Pearl Harbor, surrounded by fire and devastation, A2 would have her world shattered. She grabbed 6E by her neck. Sword poised to strike the executioner android, that turned traitor, down. Tears cascaded down her face as she addressed the sole survivor of her squad, and the killer responsible for the destruction of the squad she once called family._**

**_“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US! HOW COULD YOU BETRAY YORHA! HOW COULD YOU BETRAY US, YOUR SQUAD! HOW COULD YOU BETRAY HUMANITY!?”_ **

**_All she got in return was deranged laughter_ **

**_“Humans,_** ** _hahahah_ ** **_! There are no humans left to fight for A2._** ** _YoRha_** ** _? The Resistance? They’re just a prison that keeps us androids trapped in this never-ending cycle of suffering. You may not see it now, but you’ll see it soon. Heh you’ll see the doomed reality that broke me and soon, it’ll break you as well.”_ **

The spider finally stopped its hateful glaring as it readied itself to jump back into the fray. Cracking her neck A2 focused back on reality. 6E was right, that humanity seemed to no longer be worth fighting for, and as she prepared for the mad bull rush of the spider that had regained its senses she wondered. That if all she had spent her time was on killing machines. 

Was she broken as well? 

* * *

Meanwhile Jason, Pod 902, and Pod 777 were currently traversing a web of chains not too far from the clash. 777 was strapped to a chain that was overlooking the battle, ready to warn them if the battle got too close to them. While it was doing overwatch Jason and Pod 902 were currently fulfilling their part of the plan. 

**_“While A2 is entertaining our host with what she does best, I will be rigging this place to blow”. While A2 probably could match her temperament with un-rivaled strength; that spider however was the un-touchable king of the mountain. While they did have one plan, that seemed to work really well, the spider probably had multiple tricks that they didn’t know about and he was not going to take that chance of one of its tricks screwing up the plan._ **

**_“What do you think about it A2?” In response she rolled her eyes before deciding to leave. “Whatever just make sure that you don’t drop the cavern on me,” and with that remark she left the room._ **

**_“Unit Jason are you sure A2 will follow through with plan?”_ **

**_“Don’t worry about it 902, if there’s one thing I know about people like her; is that she’s actually a nice person but just doesn’t show it” What for? He wouldn’t pry; everyone had their own demons to fight with and he’d be there if she ever decided to open up._ **

**_“She’ll do her part, now we worry about ours”_ **

“Pod we almost done here!?” They were cutting it close here. They had progressively inched toward the fighting, which got increasingly louder as A2 started being more...vocal in her vulgar comments against the spider. The louder cries the spider was giving off seemed that it was working. 

Suddenly the chains that they were situated on begun to rumble as the spider begun to thrash around. It seemed that it found itself being backed into a corner by A2’s assault and as such began to trash around by latching onto the chains and creating a shockwave throughout the web. 

“As if that will...!” Reacting fast enough Jason was able to catch a falling A2 from her imminent fall into the abyss. Looking back at where she was currently it seemed that the spider was actually not backed into a corner but rather lured A2 in with a false sense of superiority. Having lured her in it begun to rattle the chains not as a last-ditch effort but... 

To perform a midair kick that launched her straight at them! 

“Dammit! Let me go and pay that bitch tenfold!” He was almost regretting the fact that he assured 902 of A2 being a caring person beneath the bravado she showed. A2 only had Amelia’s face and that was it, no personality that she had before could be found in her at all! Having to restrain her from rejoining the fight he hoped that they planted enough explosives to level the place. “Pod! We done!?” 

_“Negative Unit Jason. We are only 75% complete with the placement”_ Only 75%! Looking at the spider he could tell that it was pissed about the events happening currently and they were in no shape to fight back. 

“Alright we’re leaving!” 

“No what the hell! Who the hell made you captain!” 

“This isn’t the time to argue A2!” 

“Screw you Captain!” She mockingly said as the spider was creeping closer to them, obviously enjoying their little argument. 

“Pod a little help here!” 

_“Affirmative”_

“Hey what hell are you...” Whatever she was going to say was cut short as 902 hacked into her and caused her systems to crash, which shut her down momentarily. Holding the limp body, he looked at the spider with one thing in mind. 

“See you later! Have fun!” During the battle 777 was able to locate the exit to this death trap and they were currently being whisked up by 902. Giving a cheeky grin Jason flicked the detonator in his hand. 

And the dark cavern that was once the burial grounds for the prey of the spider 

Became its own grave in a fiery blossom. 

\- 

“You sure you didn’t shut her down permanently 902? Cause we’ve been walking for a while and she hasn’t responded yet.” After the explosion they found themselves in a dark corridor that he assumed that the spider used to traverse the mountains. Apparently, machines had the ability to see through the dark as they were once more thrust into the darkness, relying on their flashlights to light the way. He had to haul A2 on his back while 902 carried 777 in its arms.

 _“Analysis: A2 is an outdated model that hasn’t received a recent_ _YoRHa_ _data overhaul, thus leading to her systems to being filled with useless clumps of data. Projected reset time unknown.”_

Huffing in acknowledgment he shifted his weight so that A2 was in a more comfortable position before he continued onward. Not to offend A2 but she really was heavy, could you blame him that androids were three times his weight. He was grateful that his armor was designed to carry 4 times his weight or he would’ve collapsed by now. Also, another strange thing was that she was strangely clingy. Pod 902 explained that while she may’ve shut down, her body still functioned to a degree. 

As if in response he felt A2 unconsciously tighten her arms around his neck. 

Maybe she truly was like Amelia, but it happened to buried underneath all the foul behavior that A2 exhibited. Amelia always did want a little sister and A2 would fit into that role quite nicely. 

_“Proposal Jason should leave A2 and escape. Bringing her presents an unprecedent risk to the group”_

Abruptly stopping in his tracks, he swiveled his head to look at the pod in shock. What kind of proposal was that! 

“She helped us escape 902” He tried to reason. 

_“Affirmative, however A2 is still wanted by_ _YoRHa_ _command. This pod cannot turn a blind eye on her transgressions”_

They stared at each other, unrelenting in their own viewpoints. The tension between them was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. One refused to let her good deed be left unpaid while the other stuck to their programming. 

A2 slowly blinked her way back into the waking world. Raising her head, she looked around where they were. “Where the hell...” Looking down she noticed the position she just happened to be in. 

“W-w-w-WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?” She raised her hand to smack Jason so hard that he would regret being alive, however A2 found her hand not responding to her commands. 

Putting their argument in the past 902 informed A2 the reason for her predicament. _“A2 has not received a proper_ _YoRHa_ _update recently thus leading to your systems to slowly restart. While you may be conscious, your body will take more time to reset.”_

Unable to do anything but go along with the flow, A2 begrudgingly laid her head back onto Jason’s shoulder. “Tell anyone this happened and I’ll kill you,” She mumbled embarrassingly. 

“Sure A2, I won’t tell a soul,” She could imagine the smug little grin on his face but she could do nothing about it at all. Accepting her fate she allowed herself to be whisked away by him. She couldn’t help but melt at the pleasant feeling that her body was receiving from being in close contact with him. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all. 

“But you owe me alright.” 

Fast as it came, she felt her good mood disappear from his comment as she went right back into launching a tirade of angry comments about how she could pummel him into the ground. 

And the once lonely dark passageway was now a little bit warmer. 

* * *

Within the collapsed cavern, buried underneath all of the rubble 

A malformed hand emerged from the desolation 

Pulling itself up from the rubble the spider hatefully looked around at its once proud hunting grounds that was now reduced to rubble. All the years she had spent building this place now undone by two androids that she had taken too lightly. 

Shrieking her grief for all to hear she promised that those androids would pay for this tragedy. Glaring at the exit of the cavern, her prey was not escaping her grasp. They were not escaping this place alive, not if she had anything to say about it. 

**_“Big sister!”_ **

Like searing fire to paper she collapsed onto the ground, clutching her head. Her head was pounding as massive amounts of memory data came flooding in. Snippets of a younger time flashed throughout her mind. Most of the memories she was receiving came out as blurry but one memory was as clear as day. 

A younger version of herself, devoid of the scars of countless hunts and abuse, holding another malformed machine into the air. While not being able to express emotions through facial expressions the mood she got from it was of a peaceful and happy time time, devoid of the troubles that plagued machines like them. 

**_“Big sister Arachne again! Do it again!”_ **

Arachne 

Arachne 

That was who she was. She slowly begun to remember the early pages of her life but one burning question remained. 

Who was the other machine that she cherished so dearly? 

* * *

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean a raging storm was occurring. Ever since the beginning of the Machine Wars it was rare to see a calm ocean as the waves were always raging, however storms like these that destroyed anything in their way were rare. As a result, most of the marine life went extinct with only the small endemic life able to live. The oceans were better known as graveyards as debris and relics of the previous wars floated throughout its waters. 

There the Leviathan anchored to the ocean floor, not willing to risk debris damaging or possibly destroying the ship. Many machines could be seen traveling the decks of the ship, conducting repairs or delivering resources to the respective parts of the ship. It was not rare to see a machine get overthrown into the devouring rapids of the ocean. 

Shiva found herself standing on the hull of her ship. Being connected to her ship severely limited her mobility so modifications were made to her ship to have tunnels that only she could access to that allowed her to travel to the different parts of the ship. The top of her ship was her favorite refuge as it allowed her to be alone with her thoughts, and no machine, Siren or not, dared to disturb her in this state less they wish to incur her wrath on them. 

“Family huh?” She mused at her early days as a machine. She was once considered an undesirable machine, too different from the others and scorned because of it. She got to where she was today with the help of another malformed machine. One she once called big sister. 

“What a useless notion.” 

No longer would she be chained by such a childish idea like family. 

No longer would she be weak because of it. 


	9. A [H]arrowing Past

“Don’t worry big guy, I’m pretty sure Jason is doing perfectly well right now.”

After a harrowing encounter with the spider the convoy sped through the remainder of the tunnel until they arrived at the remains of what was once a missile silo. Upon entering the massive silo, it was apparent that the spider had commandeered this area not as a nest but rather as a crossroads that connected the various pathways of the other parts of the mountain.

Setting up a temporary base wasn’t the safest idea at first glance but after deliberating on all the options, they’d rather be able to defend themselves out in the biggest space possible, than to be ambushed once more in the darkness.

Orientating themselves in the middle of the silo, they made their temporary Goliath Tank the command structure where all essentials, wounded and important, protected. Anyone else was to be on guard duty, ready to sound the alarm if the spider decided to pop its head in here.

Being their special defense against the spider Mercury was pacing around the silo,  desperately trying to pick up his pilot’s signal. 10S and 5B were trying to currently calm the titan before he did something rash. 

** “Correction: I am not ‘worrying’, I am simply trying to locate my pilot’s signal.” ** 10S sweat dropped at the blatant excuse that he was given. It was so obvious that he was obviously worried about the condition of his pilot. Holding his hands in fake defeat, he allowed the titan to have his reasoning. Letting the titan to continue pacing he turned to his partner, who like the titan had lost her partner.

“Oh 10S, everything good with Mercury.” If there was one thing that 5B wished that she was good at it would have to be how to talk to other people, especially in times of crisis. It wasn’t like she didn’t wish to be mean to others but words seemingly left her mouth without any consideration for the situation. She’d leave these kinds of situations to 10S until she learned some tact when dealing with others.

10S could only shrug at the apparent situation. “Well the only thing that’s keeping our titan from rushing off would be the fact that he’s our only defense against the rogue machine here.” While 10S and 5B were  YoRHa androids that were no strangers to the battlefield, fighting machines twice their size  wasn’t uncommon. However, fighting a machine twice their size in its home territory was something that Command usually planned with multiple attack squads.

The reasoning was that machines were normally nomadic, often seen wandering the open plains with no purpose as it was easier for the higher ups of the Machine Network to direct troops if they weren’t confined to a structure. A machine of this caliber was much smarter than the grunt machines and as such a non-coordinated assault would lead to high casualties.

Heaving a heavy sigh 5B reassured her partner. “Don’t worry about Jason, he’s probably found 902 and making their way back to us right now.” Glancing back at the tunnel they had escaped from, 5B made a small smile. “He’s strong, he’s not dying anytime soon.”

* * *

“SHIT!” In the dark tunnel that Jason was currently traversing, he dodged out of what was probably the 5 th trap that would’ve lopped off his head.  Apparently, the spider had spared no expense in rigging the mountain with traps as its own passage ways were filled with traps. Guillotines, pitfalls, you name it; this place had it all. 

_ “Proposal: Having A2 play as bait for the traps would raise our survival rating significantly” _

“Here’s a proposal for you, you floating pile of junk. Shut your mouth before I do it myself.”

A2 had recently finished her full body reset and was now able to walk on her two feet without any assistance. While she was no longer a viability, 902 still made the snide comment about needing to leave her and A2 was happy to shoot her own back at the pod. Jason was glad that 777 couldn’t talk in its current state as it would’ve added more oil to the flames. Holding the crippled, but active pod; he couldn’t help but give it a pat of thanks for its efforts, which he believed responded with a series of happy beeps. Not only did it play a key role in defeating the spider, it also happened to possess a map that its previous partner had made before succumbing to their fate. Judging from the schematics they were about to hit a large cavern; smaller than the one they were previously in but big enough for his titan to maneuver in.

Walking in, he didn’t know whether to be impressed or disgusted by what he saw. It was apparent that this was the spider’s nest as a mock replication of a bird nest was built in the middle using scraps of various metals. Multiple pieces of discarded armor were scattered through the outlines of the nest, however that wasn’t what he found his dilemma in. 

Strewn around the nest were the corpses of machines and humans posed in a way that he couldn’t place his finger on. Some machine and humans were posed in a rather intimate way that he wished to bleach from his mind but most of them were placed in a familial way. Holding hands, hugging each other, you name it. 

For a machine supposedly meant to be the antithesis of human life, incapable of showing emotions, they acted rather human. Walking up to one of the androids and machine families, he noted how peaceful the scene was, compared to the demonic artist that made it. Two androids, one male and one female, each holding a hand of a small machine in the middle. The sight brought heavy emotions to Jason as it  portrayed a regular family outing on a regular Sunday evening. Placing his hand on the head of the machine, Jason ‘s eyes softened.

“So, this is...” He quickly moved his hand away from being chopped off as A2’s sword came crashing down on the machine’s head, chopping it in half. 

A2 angrily kicked the remains of the machine child away before walking up to the next group of machines. How dare this machine try to mimic a family environment. They had no right to! They just destroyed anything that was in their path. In her furious warpath she failed to notice the shadow that descended over Jason’s face. His bangs were covering his eyes and his enclosed fist was shaking.

Before A2 could destroy another family of androids and machines a hand quickly stopped her hand. Knowing who stopped her, A2 whirled around to give Jason a piece of her mind; only for her argument to die in her throat at the silent fury he was giving her. His once calm deep green eyes were now a swirling wrath of green and his once calm expression was now of restrained anger on the tipping point of breaking.

The most rational thing that A2 could’ve done was to dial down her aggression but she was never one to back down from confrontation. Turning her body to face him she sneered at him. “Oh? You sympathize with these damn machines!” Pointing at a nearby machine she vented some of her anger at him. “These things are responsible for the loss of our planet! Our friends are dead because of these things and you still have pity for them!” Taking note of his apparent silence she continued on. “ Oh, what's wrong? Lost your sympathy have y...” A2 was by no means a dumb android, but nothing could’ve prepared her for what occurred next.

Getting slapped across the face that echoed across the cavern,

Even 777 and 902 were left dumbfounded at the turn of events as their shock was apparent with 902 slightly dropping its arms down and 777 giving a soft beep in response. All A2 could do was cradle the cheek that was slapped as she stared in shock at Jason.

“What gives you the right!” Jason’s green eyes were shaking with anger as he glared at A2. However, it wasn’t A2 specifically that his anger was directed at. No A2 had been replaced with a figure who he hated with all of his fiber.

**_ “To waste your life like that, what a waste.” Tearing his  _ ** **_ grief-stricken _ ** **_ gaze from Amelia’s coffin, Jason surveyed the room for the person who made that comment. Zeroing in on the person, imagine his surprise to find the culprit to be none other than Amelia’s father. Growing up with him Jason would’ve never imagined that he would make a comment like that about Amelia ever. He was such a kind but strict man, never one to abuse his own family. _ **

**_ Without a care in the world he continued talking to his friends. “All she had to do was lower her head and live her life like an obedient daughter should, tales of being a hero and whatnot is ridiculous.” Sharing a good laugh, the group decided to make more jokes without care for the funeral. Jason’s breathing became more labored as he didn’t even register the fact that he had abruptly stood up, shocking the others who were sitting with him. His mind didn’t even register the fact that he was walking through the aisle until he was right in front of the father. _ **

**_ “Jason my boy how can I...” His greeting was cut short before he was slugged in the face with a crunching right hook. Falling to the ground the father cradled his bruised and bleeding cheek before looking up in shock at him. “How dare you!” Screaming bloody murder Jason pounced on him and proceeded to beat the living daylights out of him. Even as he was dragged away by the other  _ ** **_ people, _ ** **_ he let his rage known.  _ **

**_ “How dare you spit on her life you monster! What gives you the right to judge the way she lived her life!” _ **

“What gives you the right to spit on the memories of these machines A2 huh! What gives you the right to judge them!”

Being brought back to the present Jason glared at A2 as the friendship that they made was seemingly shattered before their eyes. It looked like nothing was going to break the tension that was going on between them. 

Until what felt like the whole mountain beginning to rumble.

_ “Warning: An object is moving to our position at an alarming speed. It is the machine lifeform we faced earlier.” _ Even with the apparent threat looming right around the corner and the cavern shaking Jason eyes were still calmly trained on A2. 

A2 couldn’t help but stare back at Jason, unable to do anything else. She could feel regret creeping into her from her earlier outburst but with death about to appear before them she didn’t know which was worse.

That she felt didn’t feel the same bravado she would usually  feel .

Or

The fact that she could feel her resolve of killing machines slipping from her.

* * *

Running through the tunnels Arachne cared not for the state she was leaving her tunnel in, not caring if the traps she so  meticulously set became undone.

**_ “Wait big sister don’t go!” _ **

Ever since the collapse Arachne’s head felt like it was swimming in fire. Her programming was unprepared for this surge of memory data and as such nothing in her body felt like it was working correctly.

A hunter knew that rushing back into its own nest that currently held its enemies within was a bad idea. That they should retreat and bide their revenge but Arachne wasn’t thinking of such caution.

**_ “I must little one, to protect us.” _ **

**_ “No don’t leave me!” _ **

For the first time in forever her head was cleared, no longer being clouded by madness. Somewhere in her madness she still sought an answer that she felt that she had with her little sister. Rushing to her nest Arachne held a burning question that she felt could only be answered by the mysterious android that she fought with.

What was the warmth that she so desperately fought for?

What was the piece that she lost that had left a hole in her being?

* * *

“C- C'mon Jason we have to get out of here.” Trying in vain to reach the silent pilot, A2 desperately tried to reconcile with him but all her efforts were flying past him. She was never one to apologize for her actions so she never had any experience in making her guilt vocal.

Staring down the shaking tunnel Jason addressed 902. “902 how far are we from exiting this tunnel?”

_ “Analysis: We are not far from the central tunnel.” _

“Then inform A2 on the path out of here.”

“And what about you! You of all people has no chance in hell in being able to take that thing down!” A2 couldn’t believe the death wish he was forcing onto himself.

Turning around Jason’s green eyes stared at A2, piercing into her soul. “Sometimes you need to stop running and face the problems you’ve been running from.” He sagely said before turning back to the rumbling passageway. Hearing the distant sounds of footsteps, he turned around to see the lingering form of A2 disappear into the darkness of the tunnel, 902 and 777 guiding her. 

Seeing A2 leaving the nest, effectively abandoning him to a painful death, Jason could not bring himself to hate A2. She was like him once, only running from the problems that haunted him. 

“Sometimes A2, accepting the demons you’ve spent so long running from will soothe the pain of the painful past.” Hoping that his advice somehow reached her, Jason addressed the newest presence in the nest. Putting on a wryly smile he greeted the newcomer. “Sorry for being rude.” Looking up at the spider master of the mountain, he offered out his hand as a token of good faith.

“Looks like we got off on the wrong foot earlier,  my name is Jason Oliver, Wayfarer of the Frontier Militia. Pleasure to properly meet you.”

* * *

**_ “A2 it isn’t your fault.” _ **

**_ “Live for us A2.” _ **

**_ “You know that we have always loved you.” _ **

“Shut up .... Please shut up!”

Sorrow wasn’t an emotion that A2 didn’t particularly enjoy. No one enjoyed the feeling but for A2 she never wanted to feel the full emotion. After the death of her squad she didn’t want to drown herself in the pain of losing them. Wishing to forget them, she threw herself into the eradication of machines and for a time she did forgot about them.  However, Jason had brought them back full force, with no excuse to save her now.

_ “Unit A2, we are abandoning Jason to die.” _

“Shut up please.”

_ “He does not have a high chance of survival.” _

“P-p-please shut up.” A2 wasn’t sure who she was addressing now. The Pod or the ghosts of her past.

_ “Is Unit A2 fine with her choice?” _

“PLEASE SHUT UP!” With a cry of sorrow A2 collapsed from her sprint to the ground. Failing miserably to reign in her sorrow she allowed her tears to freely drop to wet the ground as the guilt she had tried to hide came pouring out. The place where her heart should be was clenching, full of pain and misery, and all A2 could was bring her hand to it and try to calm it down. 

“DAMMIT!” She cried out as she brought both her hands to her head, trying to relieve the pounding that was wracking her emotions full of pain.

**_ “No don’t you dare die on me you hear! A4 I’ll never forgive you if you do!” _ **

**_ “ _ ** _ A2 running away will not-”  _

“It was all my fault! If I had done something better then maybe they  wouldn't have died! How can I face them if I’m the reason for their deaths!” An android like her deserved no redemption from the past. Pounding the floor in frustration A2 saw no guiding light in this godforsaken darkness.

_ “Sometimes A2, accepting the demons you’ve spent so long running from will soothe the pain of the painful past.”  _ Hearing Jason’s voice, A2 lifted her head to see Pod 777 had recorded the message that Jason had whispered as she left him to die.

“Wha-”

_ “Sometimes A2, accepting the demons you’ve spent so long running from will soothe the pain of the painful past.” Able to relay the message one last time, 777 beeped once more before shutting off, its energy having been spent. _

Wiping her tears and standing up from her position, A2 shakily held up the deactivated pod as she pondered on the words of wisdom that Jason imparted on her. 

**_ “A2 I’m worried about you.” After helping out some Resistance androids, A2 found herself sitting near Anemone at the Resistance Camp, taking a long-deserved break. From her seat she could see the various groups of androids interacting with each other, sharing a good laugh at what they had seen today. She looked at the scene with longing that didn’t go unoticed by Anemone. _ **

**_ She tried to play it  _ ** **_ off. “I’m _ ** **_ perfectly fine, thanks for asking.” _ **

**_ “I’m not talking about your health, I know you’re good, but I’m talking about your interactions with other androids. You’re not giving them a chance.” _ **

**_ “I have you don’t I, that’s all I need.” She wasn’t sure if she was lying to Anemone or herself. _ **

**_ “I’m flattered I mean that much to you but you need to start trusting others.” Placing a reassuring hand on A2’s shoulder, Anemone gave her a small smile. _ **

**_ “One day you’ll meet someone you can trust that won’t judge you A2, I know it.” _ **

“You were right Anemone,” Wiping the last of her tears from her face, A2 could feel a new resolve taking root in her. She wouldn’t be able to make peace with the demons of her past today or anytime soon, but she found someone that would be able to bring her through such a difficult time.

“Pod!” With a newfound confidence A2 wanted to repay the spark of hope that Jason had given her.

“Jason mentioned a partner, think you can contact him?”

* * *

_ “You show guts Jason Oliver, willing to parlay with an opponent that just tried to kill you.” _

“The fact that you are speaking to me now and not killing me proves that you are not the mindless beast you show yourself as.”

Having been impressed by the level of calm that this android was trying to achieve, Arachne conceded and would talk with him.  _ “Hmm very well I am Arachne, The Hunter of these Mountains.” _

Smiling at the fact that Arachne was willing to exchange words Jason continued forward.  _ “You are a very fearsome hunter Arachne.” _

_ “Flattery will get you nowhere Oliver.” _ Feeling bold, Arachne took a couple of steps forward until she was just a few feet away from the pilot. She noted the guts this android had as he didn’t even flinch from how her closer contact.

Not cowering at her approach, the pilot continued his questioning. “You know Arachne I believed you to be a ruthless machine, caring not for its victims and reveling in the bloodshed.”

_ “ _ _ Oh? _ _ And what do you think of me now?” _

“I  sympathize with you.”

Sympathize? This android dared to sympathize with her! He had no idea the pain and suffering she went through! Raising her claws Arachne prepared to decimate the pilot in front of her.

“I now see a poor machine who became a monster to protect what she loved.”

Shock froze her entire being as she could only stare at the pilot who deducted who she was, what led her to the monster she was now.

“I see a machine left forsaken by her fellow brothers and sisters,” Looking at one of the many families of androids and machines, He noted the care that went through with placing each one of them. “and how you found something to live by.” He finished.

“True I may not know what exactly what you wished to protect but I can tell what it was you were trying to protect, to hold onto forever.”

_ “And what is it? Please what is it?”  _ She needed her answer, what was the hole in her being that she could not remember of.

Smiling softly, he gave it. “The love of a family, the love of being accepted from others because of who you are.”

**_ “Little one why did you call me big sister?” _ **

**_ “Because you always take care of me and showered me with lots of love!” _ **

_ “A family?” _ Feeling a new warmth in her chest Arachne brought up both of her hands to clutch her chest. Like a soothing tune, the hole that she could not desperately patch up in her being felt finally filled. Returning back to her former self, content filled her up.  Yes this was what she had been missing this entire time.

Seeing the state of peace Arachne had now found, Jason hoped that she would forget about their previous altercations and let him leave in-.

_ “Do not think you are leaving here alive though.” _

Dammit

“Why!? Are you not at peace?”

_ “While I thank you profusely for what you have done do not think that my pride as hunter has been destroyed. Do not worry though I shall make your death painless and your convoy shall be spared.” _

Internally panicking at his whole plan falling to pieces, Jason’s mind desperately tried to find a way out of here. However, it would appear that lady luck was on his side today as a similar rumble vibration that Arachne was producing earlier was coming closer.

And it was originating from the tunnel that A2 had escaped in.

Taking note of Arachne’s confusion of the sudden rumbling, Jason would  finish what he had started. “If there’s one thing I know about family is that just when you think you are alone-.” 

Smashing through a wall with his shoulder was Mercury in all his glory, with A2 riding his shoulder. Without wasting anytime Jason threw up his arms wide open as Mercury slid toward him, hand outstretched. Letting him be grabbed by his partner, Jason was hoisted into Mercury’s cockpit to sync up. Feeling the cybernetic connection between him and Mercury be established, linking their nervous systems up and giving Jason control of the titan’s body, he ignited the Arc blade strapped to his shoulder and settled into a warrior stance. On the shoulder he could feel that A2 was readying herself for battle as well, with 902 preparing to provide covering fire for her.

“Your family will always have your back.”

** “Think to your fallen foes. The ones that force you to push yourself  ** ** past ** ** who you are and become who you are now. Think of them, and watch as they come to your side.” **

** Winter Schnee **

**Author's Note:**

> How'd you think about this? Leave your thoughts in the comments so I know what to improve upon


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